Scott
Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have made a name for themselves with some truly
brilliant screenplays (Ed Wood, People Vs. Larry Flynt, and Man on the Moon).
This is their first stab at directing and dare I say, the ones really getting
"screwed" are the ticket-buyers. Norm MacDonald plays a housekeeper
who becomes disenchanted with the abuse he's getting from his nagging and selfish
boss (Elaine Stritch). Along with the help of his buddy (the terrific Dave Chapelle)
they conspire to steal the old lady's dog and hold it for ransom. As expected,
things don't quite go as planned. The biggest problem with Screwed is that it
tries to fuse two other horrible movies (Drowning Mona and Lost and Found). The
end result is the worst kind of movie a comedy that isn't funny. It's almost as
if the filmmakers initially set out to make a raunchy R rated film, full of naughty
jokes and bathroom humor (ala There's Something About Mary) but then the studio
backed off and forced them to trim the picture down to PG-13.
MacDonald
is known for his bone-dry dead-pan delivery and it doesn't work any better in
Screwed than it did in Dirty Work. Chapelle does the best he can, but it's a lost
cause.
The film
goes overboard with slapstick theatrics and dumb doublecrosses. Even Danny DeVito's
talents are completely wasted in this alleged comedy. I'd say I laughed about
twice in Screwed. Alexander and Karaszewski have stumbled in their directorial
debut|Zreturning to the form they first displayed in one of their earlier writing
efforts Problem Child (not a good movie|Zin case you hadn't caught the drift).
