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Jungle 2 Jungle
1997 - PG - 105 Mins.
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| Director: John Pasquin | | | Written By: Herve Palud, Igor Aptekman, Thierry Lhermitte, Philippe Bruneau, Bruce A. Evans | | Starring: Tim Allen, Martin Short, JoBeth Williams, Lolita Davidovich, Sam Huntington |
| Review by: John Ulmer |
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Tim Allen stars as a city slicker from New York City who is at the top of his game. He and his fiancee are to be married soon, and he is becoming rich and famous. Only one problem. He needs a divorce signature from his ex-wife, living out on some forgotten island. But when he takes a trip out to the island in the middle of nowhere to meet his ex-wife, he is promptly informed he has a son. Allen, for some reason left untold, takes his son back to NYC with him - again, for no apparent reason other than a sappy "feel-sorry-for-son moment" - where his son creates turmoil in his upper-class life. Of course, this is a lame excuse for one of those "kid-from-the-outside thrown into urban life" films, and quite frankly, it just doesn't work. Not even Martin Short, playing Allen's co-worker, can save this one.
Tim Allen is a talented comedian with a history of both good and bad films. I enjoyed him in "The Santa Clause," "Galaxy Quest," "Toy Story," and "Toy Story 2," but he's had his share of bad films ("Big Trouble" and "For Richer or Poorer" rings a bell), including "Jungle 2 Jungle."
One of the bad things about this film is that we've seen it all done before, and all done ten times better. I've seen countless films where innocent outsiders are thrown into the urban life and must learn to adapt to their new world. "Blast from the Past," "The Jerk," "That Other One with Brendan Fraser As a Cave Man," and countless others included. Most of which have been done better. In fact, all of which have done better. Yes, even "The One with Brendan Fraser as a Cave Man"!
For example, take a scene where Allen's kid climbs the Empire State Building. A lot of potential there, but it comes off very stupid. Unrealistic, unfunny, stupid, and boring.
Allen tries to keep this film on its feet, but unfortunately loses his own while doing so. Martin Short shines every time he's on screen, but not in a good way - more in a way of, "I have to use the bathroom NOW!" way. They both try to use their great comedic talents to save this film, but in the end, it suffers. It suffers very, very much.
Oh, and another thing: This film is single-handedly a rip-off of Hervé Palud's film "Little Indian, Big City," in which an Indian child goes with his father to France. He climbs the Eiffel Tower, just like Allen's son climbs the Empire State Building. It even copies the bird-shooting scene. I just thought I'd mention that.
Anyway, this film deserves to be in the bottom of a video-discount barrel at Wal-Mart. It's lousy. A true stinker.
Avoid at all costs.
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