ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611050114
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: TERRY LAWSON KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
``Larger Than Life'' is an utterly mirthless movie about a man who inherits an elephant, and it begs only one question:
What were they thinking of?
The ``they'' in question, leaving the hapless elephant out of it for the moment, would be Bill Murray and director Howard Franklin. Roy Blount Jr., who is usually referred to as a humorist, is the screenwriter, so lets put him on the stand, too.
First we look at Franklin, a competent director who is not exactly in demand. Maybe he wanted to work with an elephant. Maybe he's just afraid to say no to pal Murray. Maybe he just needed the work. He is dismissed with a reprimand.
As for Blount - who presumably inherited the story from other writers the way Murray, as motivational speaker Jack Corcoran, inherits the elephant from his circus clown father - maybe it was a similar exercise in character building.
Now, on to Murray: He undoubtedly understands that although some of us view him as the only surviving ``Saturday Night Live'' alum worth paying attention to and continue to be amused at his snarky, hipper-than-hip shtick, others find him gratingly smug. With no showcases like ``Groundhog Day,'' tucked away for a rainy day, he may have seen ``Larger Than Life'' as a way to soften his image.
Or maybe he just likes the smell of elephant, the way some people swoon for gasoline or paint thinner. That would make some sense because ``Larger Than Life'' is almost as cloying as Vera the elephant, the legacy of the father Jack never knew. In debt for $35,000 to the lawyer who handled the estate, Jack needs to sell Vera to the highest bidder.
One is a San Diego zookeeper (Janeane Garofalo) who wants to send Vera to Sri Lanka to live among her own; the other is a Hollywood agent (Lois Smith) who can always use another highly trained elephant. Both are in California; Jack and the elephant are on the East Coast.
So begins Jack's long journey of self-discovery, which seems to take at least as long as Hannibal's trek across the Alps. By the time it is completed, Jack has learned forgiveness and compassion. And the elephant has learned to never take her agent's assurances that the script problems can be worked out during shooting.
Among the completely uninteresting and unlikely characters they encounter on their trip is an overcaffeinated, conspiracy-crazed truck driver named Tip, who is played by Matthew McConaughey. He took the job before he won the lead in ``A Time to Kill'' and became the Next Big Thing. A consequence of that: In an attempt to salvage the movie and its dismal commercial prospects, McConaughey's one annoyingly unfunny scene has become a series of hyperkinetically unfunny scenes. The elephant, at least, could claim contractual obligations.
Larger Than Life *
A United Artists film showing at Salem Valley 8 and Crossroads Cinema USA. 93 min. Rated PG for language.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB