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RAT RACE
Fireworks Pictures in association with Paramount Pictures presents an Alphaville Productions and Zucker Productions film
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Prod: Jerry Zucker, Sean Daniel, Janet Zucker; Exec prod: James Jacks, Richard Vane; Dir: Jerry Zucker; Scr: Andy Breckman; Ph: Thomas Ackerman; Prod des: Gary Frutkoff; Cost des: Ellen Mirojnick; Sp f/x co-ord: Stan Parks; Stunt co-ord: Tim Gilbert; Ed: Tom Lewis; Mus: Elmer Bernstein.
With Whoopi Goldberg (Vera Baker), John Cleese (Donald St Claire), Cuba Gooding Jr (Owen Templeton), Rowan Atkinson (Enrico Pollini), Jon Lovitz (Randy Pear), Kathy Najimy (Bev Pear), Seth Green (Duane Cody), Breckin Meyer (Nick Shaffer), Amy Smart (Tracy Faucet), Wayne Knight (Zack), Paul Rodriguez (Gus), Vince Vieluf (Blaine Cody), Lanai Chapman (Merrill Jennings), Dean Cain (Shawn), Silas Weir Mitchell (Lloyd), Dave Thomas (Mr Grisham).
International distribution:
Fireworks Pictures.
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“Every joke [is new] and the story is, too,” says Zucker. “It’s interesting, because the people that are racing are themselves interesting. But they’re really pawns of the super-rich like Donald St Claire. He’s doing this for the betting pleasure of the high rollers and billionaires who are betting on who’s going to get there first. So in fact, all of our racers are pawns in a larger scheme. I think that gives it a twist that plays nicely throughout the movie. There are a lot of elements here. It’s different than anything we’ve seen, but the similarity is that it has an ensemble cast racing for the gold.”
The other essential comedy-chase-movie element is an all-star cast, with some of them playing against type. That is certainly the case with Cuba Gooding Jr, who plays Owen Templeton, a professional football referee whose life has been ruined by one disastrous moment. The possibility of winning $2 million seems to give him a chance to make amends. But the road to Silver City is full of dangers and indignities, including a scene in which he loses all his clothes and another in which he finds himself on a bus full of Lucy lookalikes.
Also heading for Silver City is Whoopi Goldberg, who is in Vegas to reunite with Merrill (Lanai Chapman), the daughter she hasn’t seen for 27 years. Then there is Nick Shaffer, a lawyer who initially thinks he’s above all this greed: he’s played by Breckin Meyer from last summer’s hit comedy, Road Trip. Next comes Rowan Atkinson of Mr Bean fame as narcoleptic Italian Enrico Pollini; plus Saturday Night Live graduate Jon Lovitz, who plays an ordinary guy vacationing in Vegas with his wife (Kathy Najimy, who co-starred with Goldberg in Sister Act).
Vince Vieluf and Seth Green
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“I think we got lucky, really lucky,” says Zucker. “With a number of people I was able to read, and some we just made offers to. But I ended up with my first-choice cast: they’re all perfect for the roles.”
Zucker concedes that you might be able to find a deeper meaning in the movie if you want to. It could even be a parable of a society’s greed and of how it turns everyone into rats. But that’s not really the point.
Getting things under way with a bang: eccentric millionaire
Donald St Claire (John Cleese) fires the starting pistol.
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“To be honest, I didn’t do this movie to make it a big social comment,” he declares. “I made this movie because it’s such a strong script that I thought I could keep an audience laughing for two hours. It’s really extraordinarily funny: it’s very visual and there are lots of big visual stunts. It’s kind of a James Bond comedy in a way, because there are so many stunts as opposed to just funny lines.”
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