August 8, 2006

Safe Men

Reviewer: Craig Phillips
Rating (out of 5): ***

The caper spoof Safe Men disappeared quickly from public view first time around, barely making it to theaters before being deposited on home video - in fact, it's just now making its way to DVD - but with a game cast and some hilarious comic moments, it's much better than that history would lead one to believe. The film utilizes to perfection the deapan talents of Sam Rockwell and Steve Zahn, well-teamed here as lounge lizards forced to pretend they're safecrackers to avoid being whacked by a Jewish mobster (Michael Lerner), as well as Mark Ruffalo (wearing a "sweet 'stache"), Harvey Fierstein and Paul Giamatti as Veal Chop, Lerner's put-upon toadie. In short order, all these actors went on to bigger things but have rarely been more appealing than here; writer-director John Hamburg would go on to pen a number of Ben Stiller comedies, most of which weren't nearly the equal of this one. The heist plot and goofball characterizations will sound familiar to fans of Bottle Rocket, and should also appeal to those same people or anyone looking for quirky comedy. While it's uneven in spots, Safe Men is full of moments of truly inspired, zany humor mixed with sharp dialogue and likeably pathetic characters, and certainly deserves a better fate than obscurity. Posted by cphillips at August 8, 2006 11:57 AM