Grilled? Toasted more like. This desperately unfunny comedy stars two of the biggest names in US Television, Kevin James and Ray Romano, yet manages to go an entire 90 minutes without being even mildly amusing. It�s not that they tried and failed, there really are no jokes buried within the movie at all. They don�t even try to deceive us with some slapdash physical comedy, there�s literally nothing there.
Of course, this doesn�t come as too much of a surprise when you realize that the film is about two loser meat salesman out to make a big sale in order to keep their jobs. So desperate are they that they try to entice a Mafioso with their steaks, they are caught in his house when he is shot and killed by rival gangsters, and have to find some way to save their lives and their jobs. Add a drunken Juliette Lewis (does she play any other roles?), the always-irritating Michael Rappaport, and Burt Reynolds as a Jewish don, and you can see why this all seems so utterly unappealing.
Personally I like Kevin James, his movie roles notwithstanding he�s an excellent comic and King of Queens is one of the funniest shows on TV, but he�s wasted here playing alongside his friend and equally huge star Romano, whose appeal eludes me. Despite having nothing in the script to work with, which begs the question �why do it in the first place?�, they improvise nothing and the chemistry between their characters is weak at best. The supporting cast, who appear to have been culled from one of my nightmares, are even worse. I HATE Juliette Lewis, and I HATE Michael Rappaport. Grilled could have been another Shawshank Redemption and it would have sucked because of them. These characters flit in and out of the movie, merely serving as direction signs to the next scene or supporting cast member, and bringing nothing but confusion and despair to the viewer.
I can�t think of anything on the plus side at all� it has Mary Lynn Rajskub in it I suppose, even if she is contractually obliged to have minor roles in 20 movies a year (see Little Miss Sunshine, Firewall, Legally Blonde 2). That�s about it.
Don�t watch this. |
