This movie is achingly bad, and may well leave you thirsting for spiritual and cinematic salvation.
It's tempting to blame the low quality on the abysmal acting, but the abysmal acting is surely the product of the even worse script. Saturated with one-liner duds, 10-liner clunkers and painfully feigned scenes, this movie could be usefully employed in screen writing schools as an example of what not to force your actors to try and portray on screen. I'm disappointed that Richard Dreyfus agreed to take this movie, though a senior academic role could have suited his acting abilities well. Instead he pumps a heinous "performance" as a simply execrable poseur (we're supposed to sympathize with this guy...right?)--the quality of whose character corresponds well to the cringe-inducing wretchedness of the writing. Every other character in this movie is a paint-by-numbers cardboard figurine.
The audience suffers through a ride at least as irritating as the one endured by the (humorously-named?) professor's colleagues. Unfortunately the audience sees each rusty step approaching from miles away, preventing us from at least sharing in the colleagues' mild palliative of "surprise". As with many other bad movies this one was banking on a potentially humorous idea that, uh, doesn't quite work out. This movie is of the variation of bad that precludes even enjoying laughing at its radiant badness. Trust me, there will be no laughter. Every part of the movie, from the chokeworthy "jokes" to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones ska tracks suggests a kind of "ironic" self-referential "humor" that we're all (for some reason) supposed to be joining in on. Note to directors: next time please drop the "irony" and just aim for humor. Judging from this movie, that alone would be no small accomplishment! I almost can't believe this thing was released into theaters.
If you paid money to see this in a theater or rent it on video...well I'm just sorry. I would expect to see this as a staple of UHF stations' low-powered weekend afternoon matinées for some years to come. But hopefully not for too long!
It's tempting to blame the low quality on the abysmal acting, but the abysmal acting is surely the product of the even worse script. Saturated with one-liner duds, 10-liner clunkers and painfully feigned scenes, this movie could be usefully employed in screen writing schools as an example of what not to force your actors to try and portray on screen. I'm disappointed that Richard Dreyfus agreed to take this movie, though a senior academic role could have suited his acting abilities well. Instead he pumps a heinous "performance" as a simply execrable poseur (we're supposed to sympathize with this guy...right?)--the quality of whose character corresponds well to the cringe-inducing wretchedness of the writing. Every other character in this movie is a paint-by-numbers cardboard figurine.
The audience suffers through a ride at least as irritating as the one endured by the (humorously-named?) professor's colleagues. Unfortunately the audience sees each rusty step approaching from miles away, preventing us from at least sharing in the colleagues' mild palliative of "surprise". As with many other bad movies this one was banking on a potentially humorous idea that, uh, doesn't quite work out. This movie is of the variation of bad that precludes even enjoying laughing at its radiant badness. Trust me, there will be no laughter. Every part of the movie, from the chokeworthy "jokes" to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones ska tracks suggests a kind of "ironic" self-referential "humor" that we're all (for some reason) supposed to be joining in on. Note to directors: next time please drop the "irony" and just aim for humor. Judging from this movie, that alone would be no small accomplishment! I almost can't believe this thing was released into theaters.
If you paid money to see this in a theater or rent it on video...well I'm just sorry. I would expect to see this as a staple of UHF stations' low-powered weekend afternoon matinées for some years to come. But hopefully not for too long!