Stark Raving Mad Drew Daywalt & David Schneider USA 2002
My love affair with Seann William Scott shoots the rapids in Stark Raving Mad, a tepid heist movie ingeniously peppered with a classy second rate cast and some hot tunes for all the young punks into club culture. Judging from his nine o’clock shadow Seann means business; young prickly pubic chinned adult business. Being a club promoter is a tough business at the best of times, but most entrepreneurs don’t have to repay the most heinous Lou Diamond Phillips - a local mobster firmly convinced by the Dickensian mode of debit transfer. Seann's brother owed Phillips and with his demise the bond passed to Seann. Using a gig he’s organised as cover, Seann robs the safety deposit next door. To disable the alarm the beats must be maintained at a bruising level of decibels. Roll another phat one Seann!
Smart idea: pumping tunes, tight cast. Except, aren’t the comedy errors meant to beset the characters not the writers. The script resembles the toilet paper you find in club toilets. You know, the sodden lumpy stuff encrusted on the seat. The problem I find with clubs is my total inability to communicate with anyone, from the barman to anyone who might have perked my cirrhotic libido. So why not hold lots of conversations to the smoothly faded set, just like it happens in reality. When I think of cinematic clubbing I recall David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - characters overpowered and abused by pounding light and sound before Bob, Bowie or whoever else possesses the nearest apple pie. Which draws me to my next criticism: over stylish visuals. Were these guys compensating for something? Like directing ability or a secret yearning to direct the Fight Club of nature documentary instead? Characters talk to camera in frozen instants that the audience painfully share with the freeze-framed cast members. Then the juddering jump cuts circumcise monologues. The last heist movie I saw was Michael Mann’s Thief, a film from the early 80s that seemed less dated than what was on show here.
Seann saves Stark Raving Mad obviously, with a performance that reeks of stardom in metamorphosis. Best at arrogance with goofy charisma, Seann resurrects Stark Raving Mad and proves that he can carry a derivative movie ably. The rest of the cast pull their combined weight, notably Suzy Nakamura and Dave Foley, and Stark Raving Mad surpasses its drawbacks. This film will be great for late night television, the perfect arena to reward low expectations and insomnia.
Seann, I’ll call you, okay honey?
