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Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
2006 - PG-13 - 89 Mins.
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| Director: Trent Cooper | | Producer: Alan C. Blomquist | | Written By: Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer | | Starring: Larry The Cable Guy, Iris Bahr, Bruce Bruce, David Koechner, Megyn Price |
| Review by: Joe Rickey |
| Official Site: www.healthinspectorthemovie.com/index_flash.php |
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Git-R-Done
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The first truly terrible comedy of the year, 'Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector' is devoid of anything resembling actual humor.
The titular comedian, made famous from the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" DVDs and subsequent TV series, stars as himself if he were a health inspector for the U.S. government. He's a happy go-lucky man happy with his job that usually involves busting restaurants that have been overrun with rodents and/or cockroaches. His superior (Tom Wilson) is fed up with his laid-back method to his work and assigns him a partner (Iris Bahr) as punishment. The two must investigate an outbreak of food poisonings in high-class restaurants and its ever more likely connection to an upcoming "All City Chef" competition.
As directed by relative newcomer Trent Cooper (from a script credited to Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer, the duo behind the 2001 Disney film 'Max Keeble's Big Move') 'Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector' is probably what one might expect only worse. Much worse. Replete with all sorts of jokes and gags surrounding every conceivable bodily fluid known to Man, the film throws joke after joke at the viewer, complete with the accompanying sound effect(s). Every joke falls flat aside from the increasingly rare one-liner that manages to be less than horrid. The jokes are oftentimes offensive without even seeming to recognize themselves as such. Here, the worst offender by a longshot is Larry's mentally handicapped neighbor, a sort of man-child played without an ounce of subtlety by David Koechner ('Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'). Trent Cooper's less than inspired direction doesn't help matters with poor staging of scenes and joke set-ups along with murky cinematography courtesy of Kim Marks. The inept pacing deserves mention as the film grinds to a halt about 30 minutes in as even the screenwriters seemed to lose what little inspiration they had. Perhaps they thought they were writing the pilot for an eventual TV series as that is what the film resembles more than anything. Either that or a "Saturday Night Live" skit turned feature film.
Playing a variation on his redneck act, Larry (real name Dan Whitney) overacts and shouts his lines, not seeming to realize that film requires more finesse-minded approach than his usual stand-up comedy venue. Iris Bahr's performance is on the opposite end of the spectrum. If she were any less interested in the proceedings she would be sleeping. With such a one-note uptight character though, who can really blame her for phoning it in?
Supporting performances by Megyn Price ('Mystery, Alaska'), Joe Pantoliano ('Daredevil'), Kid Rock (as himself), and Bruce Bruce ('XXX: State of the Union') are all less than intriguing. By way of an intense case of overacting Pantoliano provides the most entertainment value.
'Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector' should be quarantined for violating all matters of good taste. An instant candidate for year-end "Worst" lists.
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