Larger Than Life (1996)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Howard Franklin

Writers (WGA):

Pen Densham (story) and
Garry Williams (story) ...

Release Date:

1 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

He's got 5 days to go coast-to-coast. (There's just one BIG problem.)

Plot:

A motivational speaker discovers that the inheritance his father left for him is in the form of an elephant.

Plot Keywords:

Inheritance | Elephant | Circus | Motivational Speaker | Clown

Cast

Jerry Adler	...	Event Coordinator
Bill Murray	...	Jack Corcoran
Richard Alan Baker	...	Richie
Richie Allan	...	Man in Audience
Kimberly Thornton	...	Pyramid Woman
Anita Gillette	...	Jack's Mom
Maureen Mueller	...	Celeste
Jeremy Piven	...	Walter
Alex Neiwerth	...	Matthew
Alfa-Betty Olsen	...	Party Guest
Carrie Houk	...	Marcie, Receptionist
Harve Presnell	...	Trowbridge Bowers
Tal	...	Vera
Earl Billings	...	Cop
Jeannine Hutchings	...	Outraged Woman

Also Known As:

Large as Life (USA) (working title)
Nickel and Dime (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #34067) | Germany:o.Al. (w) | Spain:T | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company:

Majestic Films International

Quotes:

Jack Corcoran: Okay I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is it's all downhill from here. The bad news is you're going to carry me.

Movie Connections:

References The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Soundtrack:

Hermanos Alou

Nothing special, but still fun – Murray carries it from start to finish

Jack Corcoran is an inspiration speaker who is trying to get his career moving to get the bigger gigs after having a best selling book. He bases his theory on his ability to get over his father's death just before his birth. He is surprised to find his father has just died and has actually left him an inheritance. He travels out to collect to find that his father was a clown and his inheritance is substantial -–in fact she's an elephant. Now he has less than a week to get across country to deliver the elephant to one of several interested parties.

Around about this period Bill Murray films kinda sunk to a bit of a low in terms of money making and quality. One thing has kept him a star however and that's himself – even an average film can be made enjoyable by him, and that's what happens here. The plot is predictable – who will he give the elephant to, the evil trainer or the jungle bunny? Will he make it in time? The answers are easy, but no matter. The message about loving animals etc are a little sentimental and don't sit well with the idea that we are actually watching an animal that belongs to a movie organisation such as the one being shown here as evil!

The comedy is also predictable – we know the elephant will knock things down and lift things up etc, but it's not overdone and is amusing to a point. It may not be rocket science but it will please kids for sure. For adults the physical nature of this comedy is tempered by a world weary Murray who really does make the film worth watching. He is a funny guy and although he is on auto-pilot here, he is still very good.

The film rests solely on his shoulders and he just about carries it off. The rest of the cast may well be made of faces but they are all in minor roles. People like Piven, Garofalo, Fiorentino, Jerry Alder, Presnell etc are all round the edges making it look tidy but really do little. McConaughey has a bigger, minor role but he isn't very good. His character is funny but he doesn't quite carry it off and I wonder if he is embarrassed by it now.

Overall this sort of thing usually stinks the place up, and this one doesn't. It's nothing special but is amusing enough to pass the time. This is mainly due to Murray doing his usual world-weary cynical act – we've seen it before but that doesn't mean it's not still funny.