Corky Romano

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Corky Romano

As if determined to prove it's possible to be simultaneously convoluted and stupid, Corky Romano boasts at least two films' worth of plot, and enough human-body-in-distress gags to fill out a Three Stooges festival. Neither, however, compensates for a shortage of actual laughs. The latest film to spotlight a member of the theoretically funny current Saturday Night Live, Corky Romano (rhymes with "Soprano") stars Chris Kattan as the title character, a veterinarian with a sunny disposition and a love for '80s music. When dad Peter Falk suffers a heart attack, Kattan is called up by his Mafia family to go undercover with the FBI and retrieve evidence against Falk planted by a family member turned informant. In his new capacity, meanwhile, Kattan becomes involved in a hunt for a notorious drug dealer called The Night Vulture and romances a fellow FBI agent played by Vinessa Shaw. Apparently the script didn't have room for Kattan to lead a sports team to victory at the last minute, save a neighborhood from evil contractors, or travel into space. Those inclined to walk out of films that start unpromisingly will not last long at Corky: In one early scene, Kattan, while attending to animals at a vet practice called "Poodles And Pussies," is caught up in a string of mishaps involving an obese cat, a French-talking parrot, and a giant snake that finds its way into his pants. Kattan responds by flailing, twisting, and mugging, a procedure he repeats throughout the film. His performance here occasionally makes his half-monkey SNL character Mr. Peepers look like the height of subtlety, but at least Mr. Peepers never had to fight a midget, or get electrocuted via the nipples.

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