In what has been a fairly quiet summer for the comedy genre, "Rat Race" storms into theatres with an abundance of energy and enthusiasm unmatched by any other movie this year. Probably the best thing about "Rat Race" is that it could have easily been one of those movies that has its best moments wasted in the previews. Luckily, "Rat Race" has much more to it than the teasers in the previews.

The main plot of "Rat Race" reminds me of the tons of reality tv shows that we are going to be bombarded with in the next year or so. In this game however, it is a wealthy Las Vegas casino owner at the helm. John Cleese plays the eccentric casino owner who strives above and beyond to provide his patrons with the most exciting, and most unusual gambling events. He selects six people at random and tells them that he has stashed away $2 million somewhere in Silver City, New Mexico. The first contestant to reach the money wins it.

The six contestants actually end up being closer to twelve since some of them have partners or families joining them in the race (and yes twelve characters is hard to keep track of). To describe each main character would take eternities, so I'll provide a very brief rundown. Rowan Atkinson plays a narcoleptic tourist, Whoopi Goldberg and Lanai Chapman play a mother and daughter meeting for the first time, Breckin Meyer plays an aspiring politician who's afraid to commit any crime or moral wrong, Jon Lovitz and Kathy Najimy play a married couple who race with their kids, Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a very untalented and hated NFL referee, and Seth Green and Vince Vieluf play con artists.

Director Jerry Zucker (Aeroplane!) and screenwriter Andy Breckman (SNL) are able to fill "Rat Race" with nearly two hours of jokes, gags, and unbelievable, yet hilarious situations. And by fill, I mean fill. Probably the second best thing about "Rat Race" is that there is never a dull moment. It is that enthusiasm and energy that I was talking about that really carries this film. Of course when you throw in so many scores of jokes, it's impossible for them all to succeed. There is no doubt that there are quite a number of jokes and situations that just don't work in "Rat Race." Some of the comic timing is a little off, and some scenes move too fast, cutting off what could have been a funnier ending to a scene. But even the jokes that didn't work I still kind of had a respect for, just because I sensed that there was so much energy and effort behind them.

The only main problem with "Rat Race" is that it tries to be too much at times. This is mostly true with the characters. At times you get the feeling that certain characters are either overshadowed or even forgotten about. One example is Whoopi Goldberg and Lanai Chapman's characters. They are mother and daughter meeting for the first time. But shortly after their meeting, you forget entirely about that since its never addressed again. I guess its true that character development isn't of extreme importance in a film like this, but wouldn't there have to be some sort of reason for adding this in the film. I felt that maybe Breckman wanted to use this for some joke farther down the line, but just never developed it. There are a few other situations similar to this, as we never learn much about the characters themselves.

What we do learn about them is how they react to bizarre and unbelievable situations. The characters are well cast and well acted and are also highly important to the comedic success of this film. Overall, "Rat Race" tries amazingly hard to be funny and for the most part, it succeeds. We would be lucky if any of the upcoming reality tv shows similar to "Rat Race" (The Amazing Race, Lost, The Runner) are half as energetic.

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12