ALLEN'S FLAIR HELPS `JUNGLE' FILM RISE ABOVE ITS CLUNKY MOMENTS.Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Critic You couldn't call ``Jungle 2 Jungle'' a critics' picture, but for formulaic family fare, it's a cut above the norm, thanks to the mostly engaging antics of star Tim Allen and an all-around good cast. Allen plays a workaholic work·a·hol·ic n. One who has a compulsive and unrelenting need to work. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of stock trader who's forced to go down to the Amazon jungle to sign some divorce papers with his long-gone ex-wife, whereupon he discovers he has a son he never knew about. Raised by natives, as it were, the 13-year-old boy, Mimi-Siku (Sam Huntington) is a barefoot, blow-dart blowing, spider-toting innocent who's eager to visit the big city with Dad, partly to fulfill a tribal quest for manhood that involves stealing the fire from the Statue of Liberty Statue of Liberty great symbolic structure in New York harbor. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : America Statue of Liberty perhaps the most famous monument to independence. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : Freedom . Despite the contrived setup, it's an engaging premise, one that promises the fish-out-of-water fun we've seen in ``Crocodile Dundee'' and other pics that pit a wide-eyed rustic against the concrete jungle of Manhattan. But ``Jungle 2 Jungle,'' skews away from the boy's point of view to focus more on the Tim Allen character and what he's going through, probably for commercial reasons. That brings in a farcical far·ci·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to farce. 2. a. Resembling a farce; ludicrous. b. Ridiculously clumsy; absurd. far subplot sub·plot n. 1. A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work or film. Also called counterplot, underplot. 2. A subdivision of a plot of land, especially a plot used for experimental purposes. involving plummeting coffee futures, a Russian mobster with a violent streak and the neurotic spasms of Allen's high-strung trading partner (Martin Short). Meanwhile, the latter-day Mowgli goes around Manhattan in face paint and a loincloth loin·cloth n. A strip of cloth worn around the loins. loincloth Noun a piece of cloth covering only the loins Noun 1. , basically digging it, and even getting to perch atop the Statue of Liberty, while sending Dad into a tizzy tiz·zy n. pl. tiz·zies Slang A state of nervous excitement or confusion; a dither. [Origin unknown. . The ultimate goal is to promote family values by having the workaholic father grow to love Mimi-Siku despite all the chaos he's causing, and you can bet there's a happy ending. Based on a French film, ``Un Indien Dans La Ville,'' the Disney version has a lot of clunky moments and the same forced, overly schematic feel that tends to deflate (file format, compression) deflate - A compression standard derived from LZ77; it is reportedly used in zip, gzip, PKZIP, and png, among others. Unlike LZW, deflate compression does not use patented compression algorithms. similar Disney star-driven family fare (such as ``The Preacher's Wife''). But the stars often rise above the setup to bring in some good laughs, particularly Allen, whose vaguely vulgar comments help enliven this squeaky-clean project. His goofy routine involving a tranquilized cat is particularly funny. The kids are all appealing performers, including LeeLee Sobiesky and Frankie Galasso, who play Short's kids, as well as Huntington, who does a fine job in his movie debut. Lush production values include aerial shots of Amazon rain forest and location filming on a remote beach in Canaima, Venezuela. The kid's enormous spider, by the way, which is the focus of many a gag, is no puppet or digital trick, but an actual Goliath bird-eating spider from the Amazon, with poisonous fangs more than 2 inches long. THE FACTS The film: ``Jungle 2 Jungle'' (PG; sexual innuendo, language, mild violence). The stars: Tim Allen, Martin Short, Sam Huntington, Lolita Davidovich, David Ogden Stiers David Ogden Stiers (born October 31, 1942) is an American character actor, voice actor and musician, most noted for his role in the television sitcom M*A*S*H, and the science fiction drama The Dead Zone. , JoBeth Williams, Sam Huntington, Valerie Mahaffey. Behind the scenes: Directed by John Pasquin. Written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon. Produced by Brian Reilly. Released by Walt Disney Pictures. Running time: One hour, 51 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Three Stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Tim Allen, left, is a commodities trader and Sam Huntington is his 13-year-old Amazon-raised son in the Disney film ``Jungle 2 Jungle.'' |
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