| Corky Romano |
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| DVD Comedy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Tara O'Shea | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, 14 May 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Chris Kattan plays the title character, Corky Romano, a klutzy animal-loving vet who is the black sheep of his Mafioso family. When his father (Peter Falk) is indicted by the FBI, he is asked to go undercover as an FBI agent to steal evidence. Once inside the Bureau, however, Corky is assigned to a serial killer case, falls for lovely fellow agent Kate Russo (Vanessa Shaw, with absolutely nothing interesting to do other than be FBI Barbie for most of the film), and becomes the darling of his superior (Richard Roundtree, best known as the original Shaft) and the bane of the straight-laced head of the Night Stalker task force Brick (Matthew Glave, who seems to have stepped straight out of “Dragnet”). By the end of the movie, not only does he reunite his dysfunctional (crime) family, but he also exposes the real mob boss behind the murders and mayhem, gets the girl and nails the serial killer. Kattan has his moments, as do Peter Berg and Chris Penn as his tough-as-nails brothers (one is humorously illiterate, while the other is humorously a closeted homosexual -- let the hijinks ensue!). But overall, the movie plays like a bad “Saturday Night Live” skit -- it just goes on and on, obliterating anything that was actually entertaining, until you pray for death. One has to wonder what veteran actor Falk saw in the role, and while it's always good to see Fred Ward (beloved veteran of much more entertaining schlock such as “Tremors”) again, the movie will leave the audience wondering if they can shake down the filmmakers to get that hour-and-a-half of their lives back which was so ruthlessly stolen from them. For such a horrible movie, the disc itself is decent. The video transfer is excellent, with bright, saturated colors and no noticeable flaws, although the skintones do seem a bit pink at times. The 5.1 sound mix isn't particularly exciting, particularly if you're not a fan of the film's flatulence gags. Dialogue comes form the center, with music and effects coming from the mains and rears. Special features are slim. The "All Access Pass" featurette takes the viewer through a scene from principal photography to the edited scene, but it is strangely dull. All the movie magic is sapped by the choice of scene and the lack of any commentary explaining what the home audience is seeing. It gives a strangely voyeuristic feel to the featurette, which rambles and lacks focus. First-time director Rob Pritts mugs for the documentary camera crew, but it's as if, when the time came to actually put the DVD together, he was nowhere to be found. Other extras a include two "extended" scenes -- the skinhead sequence, and the sparring match with fellow agent and love interest Russo -- which were (wisely) pared down for the final screen versions. The disc also features the trailer for the similarly dismal “Bubble Boy” but strangely, lacks a “Corky” trailer. The animated menus are easy to navigate, and feature Terry Gilliam-esque animation, with Kattan cycling through a series of exclamations and gestures that may have you reaching for the mute button. Overall, while kids may be entertained by Kattan's antics, the subject matter isn't really suitable for children, and adults will be cringing, bored to tears or homicidal. Unless you were thrilled by “A Night at the Roxbury” and just can't get enough of that wacky Chris Kattan, skip “Corky Romano” and rent “Ace Ventura” instead. Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.        |
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