Monday, April 27, 2009

Too bad Frank Stallone couldn't do the soundtrack: "Moving Violations"

Can't believe I didn't think of this movie during that post on "Fred Claus." Easily the most distinctive thing about this lame '80s comedy is how it includes so many well-known actors' ... siblings. The actual funny-funny? Not so funny.

In a nutshell, a bunch of bad drivers get sentenced to a traffic school run by a disgruntled cop (James "Stacy's brother" Keach). Why is he disgruntled? Because the misfits' leader (John "Bill's brother" Murray) tricked him. Drat! As you might imagine, hijinks ensue.

Also at the school is a saucy rocket scientist (Jennifer "Meg's sister" Tilly), plus a host of oddballs that reads like an '80s movie honor roll: Wendie Jo Sperber ("Bosom Buddies," "Bachelor Party," "1941"), Nedra Volz (the old lady in about a million sitcoms), Brian Backer (Mark Ratner in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") and Fred Willard (before he became cool in the last 10 years). Heck, we even get a cameo of sorts by Clara Peller. Yeah! Where's the beef?

It's all rather -- are you sitting down? -- moronic. But what's really sad is seeing Bill Murray's little brother do that same schtick except not nearly as well. Imagine Steve Guttenberg's pathetic "Police Academy" lines with a Murrayesque smirk at Factor 10. For a bit, it's amusing. Then it's distracting. Then, as I said, it's kind of sad.

I shall close with a message of hope, however. As the closing credits rolled, I spotted a familiar name: Don Cheadle. Don Cheadle? Really? Who did he play? Oh, the guy at the fast-food drive-thru. (For the record, it was called Juicy Burgers.) This was his second movie role, it turns out, a full decade before he won attention in "Devil in a Blue Dress," followed by "Boogie Nights, "Hotel Rwanda" and others. So have faith, all ye stuck in crappy comedies. Someday you can go on to play a porn actor named Buck. Dare to dream ...

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