Osmosis Jones (2001)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Bobby Farrelly
Peter Farrelly

Writer (WGA):

Marc Hyman (written by)

Release Date:

10 August 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

He's one cell of a guy.

Plot:

A policeman white blood cell, with the help of a cold pill, must stop a deadly virus from destroying the human they live in, Frank.

Plot Keywords:

Body | Blood | Egg | Virus | Zoo

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Chris Rock	...	Osmosis Jones (voice)
Laurence Fishburne	...	Thrax (voice)
David Hyde Pierce	...	Drix (voice)
Brandy Norwood	...	Leah (voice)
William Shatner	...	Mayor Phlegmming (voice)
Ron Howard	...	Tom Colonic (voice)
Kid Rock	...	Kidney Rock (voice)
Kenny Olson	...	Kidney Rock (voice)
Jason Krause	...	Kidney Rock (voice)
Joe C.	...	Kidney Rock (voice)
Stefanie Eulinberg	...	Kidney Rock (voice)
Jimmie Bones	...	Kidney Rock (voice)
Uncle Kracker	...	Kidney Rock (voice)
Jonathan Adams	...	Additional Character Voice (voice)
Carlos Alazraqui	...	Additional Character Voice (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for bodily humor. (Re-rated from PG-13)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (edited for re-rating) | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | USA:PG-13 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The "protein packs" used by the mouth workers use the same sound effects as the proton packs from Ghost Busters (1984).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Osmosis comes back from "The Zit" he greets Leah by saying "Brandy- oh I mean Leah". Brandy Norwood was the voice of Leah. The error was left in because the director thought it was funny.

Quotes:

Anchorman: Things are looking grim, as temperatures rise to dangerous levels! We have lost contact with the lower extremities! NNN will stay on the air as long as possible!
Anchorwoman: In other news, house appliances that can improve your golf swing.
Anchorman: You... you silly twit, don't you get it! We are going to die!
Anchorwoman: I knew it, Dan! At the sight of the first dark cloud, you fall apart!
Anchorman: Moron!
Anchorwoman: Phony!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: The Making of 'Osmosis Jones' (#8.10)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Open

Not extremely funny, but it sure is imaginative and energetic. ***1/2 (out of four).

OSMOSIS JONES / (2001) ***1/2 (out of four)

By Blake French:

Consider the Farrelly brothers. The majority of a crowd would think of adjectives like shocking and envelope pushing, to describe them, but the most shocking thing about "Osmosis Jones," is the PG rating. Originally warranted a PG-13 rating, still a surprise from filmmakers whose credits include "There's Something About Mary" and "Me, Myself, and Irene," the film finally earned the family friendly PG rating after it was subjected to a re-rating. Peter and Bobby Farrelly are known for their crude, rude, and disgusting sense of humor. Breaking free of their traditional styles, their focus is now on something a little more entertaining than gross-out humor-imagination.

Directing a wildly amusing script by Marc Hyman, the Farrelly bothers are really on to something here. This is arguably their best film to date. Only "There's Something About Mary" stands up against "Osmosis Jones," a film that jumps between live action and cartoon animation. It calculates each moment with the perfect timing. This is not a movie just for this kids, although it's perfectly appropriate for everyone in the family. This is a feast for anyone's imagination. "Osmosis Jones" creates a world we seldom see in the movies-inside the human body.

"Osmosis Jones" is not an extremely funny movie. Only a handful of plentiful laughs occurs in the film. None of the gross-out humor works; the ideas are too jumbled within other ideas to payoff. "Osmosis Jones" does play with a lot of different humor types-from a clever "Titanic" joke that practically winks at the audience, to a laugh out loud performance by SNL veteran Molly Shannon. In "Superstar" Shannon proved to be a nuisance. However, in this film she is a very welcome screen presence.

Bill Murray needs to be in more movies these days. He still has the comic connection with the audience that carried "Scrooged," his best film, to my list of all time favorites. He stars as Frank Detorri, a lazy, slothful zoo worker who would get life behind bars if hygiene was a law. His wife passed away because of a sickness that their young, but healthy and intelligent, daughter (Elena Franklin) believes evolved from poor eating habits.

Frank eats something that contains a deadly virus, and it's up to his immune system to fight back. Osmosis Jones (voiced by Chris Rock) is one of those white blood cells who serves as a cop and must capture various villainous germs and viruses inside Frank. Although not a popular individual among the world of Frank, especially with the Mayor (voiced by William Shater), who is running for re-election very soon, he does have a crush on his assistant, Leah (voiced by Brandy Norwood). After the virus, named Thrax (voiced by Laurence Fishburne), accumulates villainous help and starts on a plan to kill Frank in a record time of forty eight hours, Osmosis must work with a cold pill named Drix (voiced by David Hyde Pierce), to stop this monstrously powerful germ before it's too late for Frank and his daughter.

The movie has some very clever material-various parts of the body represent neighborhoods in the City of Frank. For instance, the stomach is the airport with frequent departures to the colon. The Mafia relaxes in a steam room located in the armpit. Lawyers hang out in a hemorrhoid. When a zit pops up, it's seemingly the party room for the entire body, complete with a dance floor and strippers. Just simple content like that makes "Osmosis Jones" worth a watch. Even adults will enjoy the live action humor, as well as the film's zest, energy, and irony.

In a time when summer movies are at an all time low, "Osmosis Jones" is here to save they day. It's one of the most clever films of the year.