Blast from the Past

Reviewed by: Jack Vincennes

October 4, 1999

Return

Blast From the Past: If it is lunk you are looking for, go no further than Brendan Fraser. He can be goofy (George of the Jungle), doofy (Dudley DoRight), clueless, if hunky (Gods and Monsters), dorky (Encino Man), and dorky, if macho (The Mummy). Here, he is just plain adorable, as a 35 year old man mistakenly vaulted in a bomb shelter with his kooky parents(Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken) since 1961. Now, he's out in L.A., and he's wearing a windbreaker and calling black people "Negroes."

Man, I am slapping my knee just remembering these gems.

Actually, Fraser is pretty funny. But no one else is in this lagging romantic comedy. Alicia Silverstone, as the love interest, is just a plump, bad actress with the comic timing of Jessica Savitch at the end, and the lips of Bing Crosby's daughter to boot. Dave Foley, of NewsRadio and Kids in the Hall, plays Silverstone's gay roommate. He is handicapped by three things: 1) no funny gay roommate lines; 2) a stupid gay roommate hairdo; and 3) not a very impressive turn as gay (any of his four cohorts on Kids would have been a better choice, expecially Scott Thompson).