|
Michael Burrows, a recently unemployed forensic detective,
has become increasingly fascinated by the number of Darwin
deaths being reported and sets about creating a profile for
these extreme risk takers. Determined to prove a common theme
in these cases. Burrows joins forces with Siri - a clinical,
no-nonsense insurance investigator. During their investigation
our heroes come across a parade of unforgettable characters:
the speed freak who strapped a rocket launcher to his car
in his quest to set a land speed record; The two guys who
decide that dynamite is the fastest way to break through a
patch of ice to go fishing; The teenagers who will do anything
to break into a Metallica concert; and the ad executive who
is so confident in the strength of his shatterproof window
that he throws himself at it despite being on the 25th floor...
Over
the last few years The Darwin Awards have built up a dedicated
worldwide following. Named after evolutionary theorist Charles
Darwin, the awards are bestowed on those individuals who instigate
the most idiotic accidents of the year - thereby doing the
human race a favour by removing themselves from the gene pool.
Almost
everyone has heard of the awards, but the only previous exposure
I'd had to them was the once yearly e-mail a friend of mine
sends me. Now bearing in mind that I have the world's worst
memory and that I only receive my friend's Darwin Awards e-mails
once a year, I was surprised to recognise every single one
of the cases that appears in this movie.
While
the movie sounds like a fun idea, the biggest problem is tying
all the accidents together with some sort of running plot.
The whole movie revolves around Michael Burrows and his obsession
with the awards. After he is fired from his job as a forensic
detective, for letting a murderer escape (which seems a little
bit harsh), Burrows talks his way into being given a chance
to prove that he can save a large insurance company money
by profiling the types of people who are likely to off themselves
by pure stupidity.
Sadly
The Darwin Awards just doesn't have it where it counts.
There are too many pointless plot threads that lead nowhere.
Burrows's situational syncope, that results when he sees blood,
does nothing for the plot - if anything it slows the flow
of the movie as he has to find ways to attend crime scenes
without fainting. Then there's the totally pointless thread
that sees Burrows tracking down a criminal who cost him his
job (more on that later). And why is Burrows such a complete
nut? What on earth is that shower scene all about? Yes, I
know we are told that he has studied the Darwin Awards for
so long that he is heading towards being a contender in a
future year, but really? A man who is so accident conscious
that he always drives 10 miles under the speed limit, but
hooks up a crazy gadget to suspend him above a hotel bathroom
to prevent himself slipping in the bathtub while having a
shower??!!? What's all that about? As Winona
Ryder's character points out, he could just have had a bath.
I
still can't get my head around the need to have Burrows on
some other quest in which he is haunted by the murderer who
escaped him. This is a total waste of screen time. It would
have made much more sense to have had Burrows start the movie
being bored with his job and deciding to approach an insurance
company for employment (as he eventually does). The murderer
plot thread is really stupid and the final scenes in the movie
change pace to such a degree that you feel like you are watching
a totally different film. The string of literature clues as
to the murderer's true identity are ludicrous and Burrows
solves the puzzles in the most unbelievable way. While a lot
of this is done tongue in cheek, I was left asking myself
why even bother with this flimsy plot development? Would it
not have been cleverer to have had the documentary filmmaker
as the murder? We are told that more often than not the killer
follows the investigator and to be honest the inclusion of
the filmmaker adds nothing to the plot at all.
If
there really needed to be some sort of clichéd closure
finale, would it not have made more sense to have had one
of the Darwin Award cases constantly elude him? Maybe the
first case he investigates just doesn't add up but, as the
movie progresses, he pieces it together until he finally solves
it.
In
fact the end result is a mismatch of half-baked ideas and
poorly thought out plot threads that nine times out of ten
just don't work. The main stars of this movie are the actual
Darwin Award nominees, all of which have been borrowed for
inclusion in this film. When you strip them out you start
to realise how bad the writing really is. If there had been
more Darwin Award nominees and less attempts at following
other dull plot threads, this would have been a much better
movie.
Extras
are a little disappointing. All we get is a six minute Behind
the Scenes featurette. This DVD also has the world's worst
menu. Why is it that more and more menus are becoming almost
impossible to navigate these days? Their role is to make it
easy to navigate the content of the disc, so I was a little
surprised to see that when you move your cursor, on your remote
control, that it's almost impossible to tell what you are
highlighting. All the options are in black text, but when
you move up and down on your remote control, the option that
you have chosen changes from black to black with a hint of
white (i.e. grey that is only just lighter than black).
And,
while I'm having a rant, what is it with this insistence on
placing compulsory trailers before you get to the DVD menu?
This used to be something you'd get years ago on rental videos
- where there were several trailers before the main picture
started. This was never a problem with bought videos (I assume
because video producers thought that if you'd spent money
on buying the movie you wouldn't want to have to fast forward
through loads of trailers every time you sat down to watch
the movie). So why have Icon decided to put a string of trailers
on this release that you have to watch? The "menu"
button has been disabled to prevent you from skipping straight
to the main menu, and while you can fast forward through each
one, it's still annoying to have to sit through them before
you get to the DVD menu. These are laughingly labelled as
an extra on the press release.
At
the end of the day this is a comedy that just misses out on
greatness by the narrowest of margins. A better team of writers
would have been able to create a much better movie. All the
pieces are there, just not used very well.
Darren
Rea
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£14.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£11.99
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.89
(Sendit.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£15.79
(Bensons-world.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.93
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
