The Carrying On of A Wayward Son

Big Trouble (2002)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 48 out of 100

Metacritic score: 47 out of 100

IMDB score: 6.3 out of 100

I began my quest to watch a year’s worth of bad movies for several reasons — chief among them being that I was frequently finding it harder to enjoy movies I had previously loved due to a growing cynicism and a snobbish attitude towards film.

I like how for some reason, none of the actors were dressed in character for the movie poster.

“Big Trouble” is a perfect example of this.

When I first saw the film, a madcap ensemble comedy about crime among idiots, I loved it. Watching it again seven years later, though, I found the movie to be slightly messy and somewhat disappointing. Which, to me, is disappointing in and of itself.

I realize that time changes people. Seven years is a long time for a person — its only expected that little things like a sense of humor, world perspective and the ability to appreciate slapstick would be altered over the course of more then half a decade.

It’s a shame, though, that movies aren’t safeguarded against the ravages of time.

“Big Trouble” is based on a novel by Dave Barry and is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Its stars include Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Tom Sizemore, Johnny Knoxville, Dennis Farina, Patrick Warburton, Jason Lee and Zooey Deschanel.

With talent like that attached, it’s a mystery why “Big Trouble” wasn’t a hit. That said, I still found the movie to be mostly enjoyable. Solid comedic performances by Tom Sizemore and Dennis Farina played just as well for me today as they did when I first saw the movie.

The same, unfortunately, couldn’t be said about the movie’s plot. When I first saw the movie, I thought the plot’s fast pace and interconnected storytelling was exciting and engaging. Today, my appreciation wasn’t able to avoid leaking out through the story’s numerous holes and missed opportunities.

Although I’m a fan of Dave Barry, I must admit I never got around to reading the novel that “Big Trouble” was based on. I read his follow-up novel, though, so I’m pretty sure that “Big Trouble” was a great read that helped fill in the gaps that ultimately hurt the movie. At a running time of only 85 minutes, the film moved really fast — never really stopping to take a breath and appreciate the multiple storylines and quirky characters contained within.

Rewatching “Big Trouble,” I may have felt some tinges of regret when I couldn’t laugh as loud as I did the first time I saw the movie, but I also learned a valuable lesson about how sometimes less is more. Much like “Reno 911!” played better as a 30-minute television show then as a full-length movie, “Big Trouble” just had too much going on during the film and was ultimately unable to support its own weight.

With so many interesting characters orbiting the film’s narrator (Tim Allen), it was no surprise that his character, seemingly a proxy for Dave Barry, got lost beneath the shuffle of the story he was telling.

This less-is-more principal shouldn’t just be applied to film — I can also use the lesson in my own life.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I need to limit the number of quirky people I associate with. If I surround myself with talented comedians with unique personalities, it’ll only be my own fault when I become the least-engaging character in my own life.