Friday, January 16, 2015

Screwed (2000)

Directors: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski

Writers: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski

Composer: Michel Colombier

Starring: Norm MacDonald, Dave Chappelle, Elaine Stritch, Danny DeVito, Daniel Benzali, Sherman Hemsley, Sarah Silverman, Malcolm Stewart

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Everyone gets it in the end.

Plot: A chauffeur kidnaps his rich boss's dog to hold it for ransom, but when she accidentally gets the dog back, she thinks that it's the chauffeur who's been kidnapped.



My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I really like Norm MacDonald.  There was a time when his Weekend Update on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was the one thing I could count on to be funny.  Chappelle is a funny cat, too, and these two guys work well together.  Elaine Stritch is fucking hilarious in this picture.  She was pitch perfect as the old battle axe of a boss to MacDonald's butler.  She's wonderfully mean as shit.  DeVito's character should have been better written but he's still got moments of funny and some of that is just what DeVito brings to the acting table.  It's a picture that's filled with weak spots but damn it if I didn't laugh out loud quite a bit.  For as much as I like Daniel Benzali, he almost feels like he's being too straight or too hard ass as the detective leading the case.  It's almost a thankless role as he's one of the few people in the picture that doesn't get any laughs (as designed).  I'm not suggesting he should have played the character lightly (or that it should have been written that way) but he seemed a little out of place.  Still, this picture's got some great laughs and the performance by Stritch alone is worth the price of admission.  The Universal DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print with the only acceptable extra being the theatrical trailer and even it's fullscreen.

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