The Big White- Movie of the Day (1/26/10)

The Big White
-starring Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Giovanni Ribisi, Alison Lohman, and Woody Harrelson
-directed by Mark Mylod

-Dark comedy can be a touchy genre to venture into. For starters, it caters to a very specific taste. The average moviegoer will probably fail to see the humor in what would be considered morbid or grotesque in real life. Yet for many this brand of comedy which ranges from dead bodies being tossed into dumpsters or housewives being abducted, seems devoid of laughter. Yet there are those who can appreciate the hilarity in the morbid. In keeping with this tradition, The Big White serves itself up as a quintessential dark comedy.

Alaskan travel agent Paul Barnell (Williams) leads a worry-filled life. His travel agency business is not booming and his wife Margaret (Hunter), who suffers from tourret's has recently been denied the financial assistance she needs. After accidentally dropping his cell phone into a nearby dumpster, Paul notices the dead body of a man inside without identification. Thinking quickly, Paul decides to pass the body off as his long lost brother Raymond (Harrelson), who has been missing for years. With Raymond gone, Paul can cash in his brother's life insurance, leave his fledgling business and take his wife away to get her the help she deserves. The plan seems to work at first until Paul encounters a few obstacles including an insurance agent (Ribisi), his phony psychic girlfriend (Lohman), two criminals (Tim Blake Nelson and W. Earl Brown) who claim ownership of the dead body, and Raymond himself, who shows up after years away and who is clearly not dead.

It is known from the offset that The Big White has dark intentions and for this, the movie deserves much praise since some dark comedies tend to tread the line of "safe" and "dark" comedy. This film however knows what its audience expects and delivers it. This is a movie where all the characters are, in one way or another, guilty of something in one way or another. Even Ted Waters, the insurance agent, who goes beyond the parameters of typical procedure in order to expose Paul's lies is questionable as the voice of authority. Ted himself, lies, cheats and goes beyond what some might call, moral boundaries to prove Paul is a crook and earn himself a promotion. The Big White is filled with lines that in the real world should make ppl cringe, but instead provoke laughter. When Margaret is tied up after the two criminals trace their body back to Paul's house, she looks hard and cold into her kidnapper's eyes and very calmly and cooly says: "if you try to rape me, I'll swear to God I'll bite it off." Later on the same kidnapper and his partner call Paul with thier demands. He lists them quickly and before Paul has a chance to respond, hangs up exclaiming to his partner: thank God!! We avoided the trace!!" To which his partner replies: "we're at his house!!" When Ted is forced to hand over Paul's check, which he does so while holding onto it for dear life, the lights go out in Paul's office. He takes the check and says to his secretary: "Avis, can you use your cell phone and let the electric company know I'll be stopping by on the way home??" Such laughs occur throughout The Big White and range from subtle to hilarious. Although the comedy may be subtle, it never rings false and works beautifully with the grim circumstances.

The performances in The Big White are also highly noteworthy with everyone meeting the necessary requirements of their characters. Yet its Williams and Hunter who prove the most surprising. As Paul, Williams allows himself to be gently restrained in what is clearly the film's most subtle role. Paul is a man that is the sole voice of reason amongst all the ludicy and therefore must maintian his composure. Despite this, Williams manages to evoke laughs from the audience; albeit it in a different way than he is normally used to. Hunter meanwhile has a ball with her character's many explitives and physical actions. The actress really excels when asked to play comedy and The Big White is proof of that.

While some may point out some reminiscent elements from Fargo, The Big White is truly a one of a kind show with genuine laughs. Some dark comedies such as Big Trouble, Death to Smoochy, Duplex, Nothing But Trouble, etc...mostly fail at the box office for reasons which I have outlined earlier. While The Big White suffered a similar fate financially and critically, where the film does rise above the ones before it is in its heart. At the core of The Big White is a love story. It is the story of Paul, who is willing to sacrifice everything and go against his ideals and beliefs for the woman he loves. It is a rare combination to find not only dark comedy, but also real heart in film. Fortunately, The Big White has both.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKUsmT9P7TA