Dove Review

Knowing the mindset of today’s filmmakers, I expected this remake to be more like the coarse “Cannonball Run” than the non-offensive “Mad World.” How surprised and pleased I was that I finally found a comedy that made me laugh so hard, I nearly doubled over. I simply can’t remember the last time a comedy consisted of so much hilarity.

Containing the essence of “Mad World,” “Rat Race” parodies its central theme – greed. The six contestants and their assorted associates and followers will do anything to get that money. Their modes of transportation range from a bus full of gals on their way to an “I Love Lucy” convention, to a helicopter manned by a sweet young thing who discovers en route that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Then there’s the transportation-less Nazi-hating Jewish man who steals a Mercedes that once belonged to Hitler.

Unfortunately, writer/director Jerry Zucker (“Airplane!” “The Naked Gun”) doesn’t have a cast with the comic heritage of a Sid Ceaser, Milton Berle, Buddy Hacket, Mickey Rooney, or Dick Shawn. Nor is he able to supply a straight man such as Spencer Tracy, who turned out to have all the timing and facial expression of the film’s comic veterans. Nor does he have the finest background score ever found in a comedy. Thus, Zucker must rely on a few in-your-face crudities and gross-out situations to fill in the blank spots. Some of the visual antics even include animal mistreatment – a curious move for a comic filmmaker in times when animal rights activists have nearly as much clout as the NRA.

But Mr. Zucker does display a true love for tickling the funny bone and an acute ability to make it clear that all the violent slapstick is really harmless. Like watching the Keystone Cops, where victims are constantly thrown through the air with the greatest of ease, it’s clear that no one, including the animals, are really being injured. It’s much like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Zucker’s intent may not be to find a life-altering message about the wages of greed. “Mad World” was much more effective with that lesson. I think, however, that many will find the ending of “Rat Race” to be far more satisfying than that of its predecessor. The characters do learn a lesson.

Despite a few offensive words and one scene that displays the worst in bad taste, I found “Rat Race” to be the funniest movie I’ve seen since “Mad World.” But after reading the content, if you find it unsuitable for your family’s viewing, try my video alternative: “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” A non-stop laugh-a-thon as a group of motorists learn of a fortune buried 200 miles away. Besides all the visual and verbal gags, and its constellation of comic greats, “It’s a Mad…World” also contains some of the best car chases and stunts ever filmed.

Dove Rating Details

0

Faith

None

0

Integrity

A cow and a dog appear to be injured, but it is obvious that they are fake animals; there are many, many brutal pratfalls – no one is safe – not even children or old ladies.

2

Sex

A couple of sexual references; a description of a porno movie but it is a sanitized description and no one views such a film.

2

Language

Eight or nine obscenities, and at one point, a man says a word that I could not distinguish, it may have been “Jeez”, we would not approve the film if it was clearly a "Jesus" utterance; a couple of expletives come from a child.

2

Violence

A cow and a dog appear to be injured, but it is obvious that they are fake animals; there are many, many brutal pratfalls – no one is safe – not even children or old ladies.

0

Drugs

None

1

Nudity

At one point, to show that she has more pierced than her face, a woman opens her blouse, but we see her from the back.

1

Other

There is the occasional crude bit, but everything is so daffy that it’s hard to take the offensive content seriously. There are some brutal slapstick actions that may jolt the viewer, but the daffiness of the film is much like a Keystone Cops adventure or a Wyle E. Coyote cartoon. It does have a few questionable antics, including the bad taste of a misunderstanding of a man searching a baby for a missing key, to the horror of the on-looking parents.