Rat Race - Very silly, but highly watchable

There are some movies that are too dumb to watch and there are those that are fun to watch because they’re so dumb. ‘Rat Race’ definitely falls into the latter.  The plot – or what little there is of one – centres around an eccentric billionaire from Las Vegas (played to perfection by the legendary John Cleese) offering eight strangers the chance to win two million dollars, if they can be the first to reach the briefcase full of loot some five hundred miles away.  What follows is your average ‘road movie.’ Therefore, in the grand tradition of such greats as ‘The Cannonball Run’ it’s basically a series of sketches depicting the exploits of the eight sets of chancers as they lie, cheat and manipulate their way across the American desert in order to claim the money.

It could be just average, but what definitely makes it worth watching is its stellar cast.  I’ve already mentioned John Cleese (who isn’t in it enough for my liking!), but you also have such greats as Rowen Atikinson, Whoopie Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr and John Lovitz.  With a cast containing that lot it was always going to be better than your average adult comedy.  And, yes, it probably is more geared towards adults.  Although most of it could actually be suitable for children as well, there are a few scenes here and there that you wouldn’t really want to explain to someone younger than a teenager!

Some may criticise it for having little ‘character development,’ but it is a film loaded with different characters and it’s not overly long, so it was always going to be geared towards laughs over depth and substance.

Ultimately, Rat Race is the kind of film you can have on in the background while you do some colouring or play with your phone – it won’t matter too much that you’ve missed a bit here and there – you’ll still pick up the plot pretty quickly and raise a smile at whatever ludicrous antic is going on.  It’s certainly good fun if you’re not expecting too much and just want a silly giggle.  The cast appear to be having fun while they make it and there’s no reason you shouldn’t either.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that