PARK CITY -- There's a reason people don't make screwball comedies much anymore: They're hard to get right. Finn Taylor's "The Darwin Awards" attempts to modernize the genre with a patina of hipness that misses more than it hits.
The outlandish premise concerns people who improve the world's Gene Pool by accidentally dying in the dumbest ways. The film features an all-star cast toplined by Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes and has a few good laughs, but its scattershot humor will appeal mostly to a limited audience tuned in to this wavelength.
A real shaggy dog story, in fact several of them, the film is based on the Web site and three books by Wendy Northcutt detailing how people got themselves killed through stupid acts such as ice fishing with dynamite or trying to get a free soda and being crushed by the vending machine.
Taylor has stitched several of these urban myths together around the search by insurance investigators Burrows (Fiennes) and Siri (Ryder) to find individuals who possess the potential to do some real damage to themselves. If through their unscientific investigation they can pinpoint who these knuckleheads are, they could possibly save the company a bunch of money.
Fiennes and Ryder make a decent comedy team, founded on the notion that opposites attract. He's a methodical former San Francisco forensic cop who unfortunately faints at the sight of blood. He lost his job with the department when he passed out and let a serial killer Tim Blake Nelson) escape. Trying to put his life back together, he winds up in the Midwest working insurance with Siri. She's a hard-charging investigator who operates on instinct and doesn't care for having a partner.
Among the Darwin cases they encounter are the young and smug ad executive (Alessandro Nivola) who kills himself by running full-speed into the window of his new high-rise office to prove it's shatterproof. Guess what? Then there's the late Chris Penn in his last role as the aforementioned fisherman and a dunce (David Arquette) who attaches a JATO rocket to the back of his Chevy Impala and accelerates up to 400 mph but doesn't live to tell the tale.
And if that wasn't enough, Burrows and Siri are being followed around by a documentary filmmaker (Wilmer Valderrama) who would rather let them die than interfere in the precious process of recording reality. Burrows is becoming so obsessed with the Darwin cases that he's turning into one himself. It's all a bit clunky and plays more like a collection of not-so-funny skits than a coherent movie.
Tech credits are fine, and a good use of songs ranging from alt-rockers Wilco to Stevie Wonder add to the cool quotient. Even Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is trotted out to seal the film's hipness credentials. Taylor and his friends seem to be having a great time but could have let the audience in on the joke.
THE DARWIN AWARDS
Bauer Martinez
A Tavistock Films, Wow Films, Blumhouse production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Finn Taylor
Producers: Jane Sindell, Johnny Wow, Jason Blum
Executive producers: Charles Hsiao, Laurie Miller, Steven Siebert
Director of photography: Hiro Narita
Production designer: Peter Jamison
Music: David Kitay
Costume designer: Amy Brownson
Editor: Rick LeCompte
Cast:
Burrows: Joseph Fiennes
Siri: Winona Ryder
Harvey Whetstone: David Arquette
Tom Sparrow: Chris Penn
Bob: Max Perlich
Stan: Brad Hunt
Perp: Tim Blake Nelson
Mr. Pearlman: Richmond Arquette
Carla: Julianna Margulies
Henry: Tom Hollander
Joleen Whetstone: Juliette Lewis
Mrs. Pearlman: Nora Dunn
Farley: Lucas Haas
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 93 minutes...
The outlandish premise concerns people who improve the world's Gene Pool by accidentally dying in the dumbest ways. The film features an all-star cast toplined by Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes and has a few good laughs, but its scattershot humor will appeal mostly to a limited audience tuned in to this wavelength.
A real shaggy dog story, in fact several of them, the film is based on the Web site and three books by Wendy Northcutt detailing how people got themselves killed through stupid acts such as ice fishing with dynamite or trying to get a free soda and being crushed by the vending machine.
Taylor has stitched several of these urban myths together around the search by insurance investigators Burrows (Fiennes) and Siri (Ryder) to find individuals who possess the potential to do some real damage to themselves. If through their unscientific investigation they can pinpoint who these knuckleheads are, they could possibly save the company a bunch of money.
Fiennes and Ryder make a decent comedy team, founded on the notion that opposites attract. He's a methodical former San Francisco forensic cop who unfortunately faints at the sight of blood. He lost his job with the department when he passed out and let a serial killer Tim Blake Nelson) escape. Trying to put his life back together, he winds up in the Midwest working insurance with Siri. She's a hard-charging investigator who operates on instinct and doesn't care for having a partner.
Among the Darwin cases they encounter are the young and smug ad executive (Alessandro Nivola) who kills himself by running full-speed into the window of his new high-rise office to prove it's shatterproof. Guess what? Then there's the late Chris Penn in his last role as the aforementioned fisherman and a dunce (David Arquette) who attaches a JATO rocket to the back of his Chevy Impala and accelerates up to 400 mph but doesn't live to tell the tale.
And if that wasn't enough, Burrows and Siri are being followed around by a documentary filmmaker (Wilmer Valderrama) who would rather let them die than interfere in the precious process of recording reality. Burrows is becoming so obsessed with the Darwin cases that he's turning into one himself. It's all a bit clunky and plays more like a collection of not-so-funny skits than a coherent movie.
Tech credits are fine, and a good use of songs ranging from alt-rockers Wilco to Stevie Wonder add to the cool quotient. Even Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is trotted out to seal the film's hipness credentials. Taylor and his friends seem to be having a great time but could have let the audience in on the joke.
THE DARWIN AWARDS
Bauer Martinez
A Tavistock Films, Wow Films, Blumhouse production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Finn Taylor
Producers: Jane Sindell, Johnny Wow, Jason Blum
Executive producers: Charles Hsiao, Laurie Miller, Steven Siebert
Director of photography: Hiro Narita
Production designer: Peter Jamison
Music: David Kitay
Costume designer: Amy Brownson
Editor: Rick LeCompte
Cast:
Burrows: Joseph Fiennes
Siri: Winona Ryder
Harvey Whetstone: David Arquette
Tom Sparrow: Chris Penn
Bob: Max Perlich
Stan: Brad Hunt
Perp: Tim Blake Nelson
Mr. Pearlman: Richmond Arquette
Carla: Julianna Margulies
Henry: Tom Hollander
Joleen Whetstone: Juliette Lewis
Mrs. Pearlman: Nora Dunn
Farley: Lucas Haas
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 93 minutes...
PARK CITY -- There's a reason people don't make screwball comedies much anymore -- they're hard to get right. Finn Taylor's "The Darwin Awards" attempts to modernize the genre with a patina of hipness that misses more than it hits. Outlandish premise concerns people who actually improve the world's Gene Pool by accidentally dying in the dumbest ways. Film features an all-star cast toplined by Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes and has a few good laughs, but scattershot humor will appeal mostly to a limited audience tuned in to this wavelength.
A real shaggy dog story, in fact several of them, film is based on the Web site and three books by Wendy Northcutt detailing people who got themselves killed through stupid acts such as ice fishing with dynamite or trying to get a free soda and being crushed by the vending machine.
Taylor has stitched several of these urban myths together around the search by insurance investigators Burrows (Fiennes) and Siri (Ryder) to find individuals who possess the potential to do some real damage to themselves. If through their unscientific investigation they can pinpoint who these knuckleheads are, they could possibly save the company a bunch of money.
Fiennes and Ryder make a decent comedy team, founded on the notion that opposites attract. He's a methodical former San Francisco forensic cop who unfortunately faints at the sight of blood. He lost his job with the department when he passed out and let a serial killer Tim Blake Nelson) escape. Trying to put his life back together, he winds up in the mid-west working insurance with Siri. She's a hard-charging investigator who operates on instinct and doesn't care for having a partner.
Among the Darwin cases they encounter are the young and smug ad executive (Alessandro Nivola) who kills himself by running full-speed into the window of his new high-rise office to prove it's shatterproof. Guess what? Then there's the late Chris Penn in his last role as the aforementioned fisherman, and a dunce (David Arquette) who attaches a JATO rocket to the back of his Chevy Impala and accelerates up to 400 mph but doesn't live to tell the tale.
And if that wasn't enough, Burrows and Siri are being followed around by a documentary filmmaker (Wilmer Valderrama) who would rather let them die than interfere in the precious process of recording reality. Burrows is becoming so obsessed with the Darwin cases that he's turning into one himself. It's all a bit clunky and plays more like a collection of not-so-funny skits than a coherent movie.
Tech credits are fine and a good use of songs by everyone from alt-rockers Wilco to Stevie Wonder add to the cool quotient. Even Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is trotted out to seal the film's hipness credentials. Taylor and his friends seem to be having a great time but could have let the audience in on the joke.
THE DARWIN AWARDS
A Tavistock Films, Wow Films, Blumhouse production
Credits: Director, writer: Finn Taylor; Producers: Jane Sindell, Johnny Wow, Jason Blum; Executive producers: Charles Hsiao, Laurie Miller, Steven Siebert; Director of photography: Hiro Narita; Production designer: Peter Jamison; Music: David Kitay; Costume designer: Amy Brownson; Editor: Rick LeCompte.
Cast: Burrows: Joseph Fiennes; Siri: Winona Ryder; Harvey Whetstone: David Arquette; Tom Sparrow: Chris Penn; Bob: Max Perlich; Stan: Brad Hunt; Perp: Tim Blake Nelson; Mr. Pearlman: Richmond Arquette; Carla: Julianna Margulies; Henry: Tom Hollander; Joleen Whetstone: Juliette Lewis; Mrs. Pearlman: Nora Dunn; Farley: Lucas Haas
No MPAA rating, running time 93 minutes...
A real shaggy dog story, in fact several of them, film is based on the Web site and three books by Wendy Northcutt detailing people who got themselves killed through stupid acts such as ice fishing with dynamite or trying to get a free soda and being crushed by the vending machine.
Taylor has stitched several of these urban myths together around the search by insurance investigators Burrows (Fiennes) and Siri (Ryder) to find individuals who possess the potential to do some real damage to themselves. If through their unscientific investigation they can pinpoint who these knuckleheads are, they could possibly save the company a bunch of money.
Fiennes and Ryder make a decent comedy team, founded on the notion that opposites attract. He's a methodical former San Francisco forensic cop who unfortunately faints at the sight of blood. He lost his job with the department when he passed out and let a serial killer Tim Blake Nelson) escape. Trying to put his life back together, he winds up in the mid-west working insurance with Siri. She's a hard-charging investigator who operates on instinct and doesn't care for having a partner.
Among the Darwin cases they encounter are the young and smug ad executive (Alessandro Nivola) who kills himself by running full-speed into the window of his new high-rise office to prove it's shatterproof. Guess what? Then there's the late Chris Penn in his last role as the aforementioned fisherman, and a dunce (David Arquette) who attaches a JATO rocket to the back of his Chevy Impala and accelerates up to 400 mph but doesn't live to tell the tale.
And if that wasn't enough, Burrows and Siri are being followed around by a documentary filmmaker (Wilmer Valderrama) who would rather let them die than interfere in the precious process of recording reality. Burrows is becoming so obsessed with the Darwin cases that he's turning into one himself. It's all a bit clunky and plays more like a collection of not-so-funny skits than a coherent movie.
Tech credits are fine and a good use of songs by everyone from alt-rockers Wilco to Stevie Wonder add to the cool quotient. Even Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is trotted out to seal the film's hipness credentials. Taylor and his friends seem to be having a great time but could have let the audience in on the joke.
THE DARWIN AWARDS
A Tavistock Films, Wow Films, Blumhouse production
Credits: Director, writer: Finn Taylor; Producers: Jane Sindell, Johnny Wow, Jason Blum; Executive producers: Charles Hsiao, Laurie Miller, Steven Siebert; Director of photography: Hiro Narita; Production designer: Peter Jamison; Music: David Kitay; Costume designer: Amy Brownson; Editor: Rick LeCompte.
Cast: Burrows: Joseph Fiennes; Siri: Winona Ryder; Harvey Whetstone: David Arquette; Tom Sparrow: Chris Penn; Bob: Max Perlich; Stan: Brad Hunt; Perp: Tim Blake Nelson; Mr. Pearlman: Richmond Arquette; Carla: Julianna Margulies; Henry: Tom Hollander; Joleen Whetstone: Juliette Lewis; Mrs. Pearlman: Nora Dunn; Farley: Lucas Haas
No MPAA rating, running time 93 minutes...
- 1/30/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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