A thoroughly appalling "comedy" detailing the wacky misadventures at an early 20th century health farm run by bizarre cereal magnate Dr. John Kellogg. Purportedly based on real events, one is hard-pressed to find much to laugh about in this over-long and criminally unfunny film. Anthony Hopkins, sporting buck teeth, has been drafted to play the nutty Kellogg. The events at the health farm largely unfold through the eyes of newly converted health maven Bridget Fonda and her less enthused husband Matthew Broderick, who is dragged along to have his system cleared of impurities.
It is open for debate how much on screen is indeed factual, but it is certainly not open for debate how such a debacle could have been conceived with the talent involved. Director Alan Parker is responsible for some of our best dramas, including Midnight Express and Mississippi Burning. The cast is stocked with familiar faces, who have had far better days elsewhere. The humor is almost completely one-sided in scatological references and bodily functions - if you think the idea of someone getting a yogurt enema is the height of hilarity, then this is definitely the film for you. The film is also awash in gratuitous nudity, but no amount of eye candy (and much of it would not qualify for that description) can distract from the film's glaring shortcomings.
Hopkins throws himself into the role of Kellogg, but it is little more than a cartoon character. Fonda alternates between nagging and dishrag in a dreadfully uninteresting role. Broderick fares best from the cast, largely because he is playing the only semi-developed character and the only one remotely normal or sympathetic. It is also a pleasant surprise how enticing he looks when naked - that close-up on the vibrating platform was a real eye-opener. John Cusack is on hand, but why is anyone's guess. His subplot - playing a nephew of one of Kellogg's patients involved in a shady scheme - goes no where and takes up too much screen time. Ditto, Dana Carvey as Kellogg's deranged son. Both subplots could have been completely excised from the film without anyone noticing and making the proceedings blessedly shorter. Camryn Manheim is light years beyond obnoxious as Fonda's confidante at the health farm.
Truly there is literally nothing that works in this film. There is nary a chuckle to be found in its morass of jokes on poop, enemas, flatulence and body fluids. At the end, the question lingers as to how so many talented people ended up in this mess?
It is open for debate how much on screen is indeed factual, but it is certainly not open for debate how such a debacle could have been conceived with the talent involved. Director Alan Parker is responsible for some of our best dramas, including Midnight Express and Mississippi Burning. The cast is stocked with familiar faces, who have had far better days elsewhere. The humor is almost completely one-sided in scatological references and bodily functions - if you think the idea of someone getting a yogurt enema is the height of hilarity, then this is definitely the film for you. The film is also awash in gratuitous nudity, but no amount of eye candy (and much of it would not qualify for that description) can distract from the film's glaring shortcomings.
Hopkins throws himself into the role of Kellogg, but it is little more than a cartoon character. Fonda alternates between nagging and dishrag in a dreadfully uninteresting role. Broderick fares best from the cast, largely because he is playing the only semi-developed character and the only one remotely normal or sympathetic. It is also a pleasant surprise how enticing he looks when naked - that close-up on the vibrating platform was a real eye-opener. John Cusack is on hand, but why is anyone's guess. His subplot - playing a nephew of one of Kellogg's patients involved in a shady scheme - goes no where and takes up too much screen time. Ditto, Dana Carvey as Kellogg's deranged son. Both subplots could have been completely excised from the film without anyone noticing and making the proceedings blessedly shorter. Camryn Manheim is light years beyond obnoxious as Fonda's confidante at the health farm.
Truly there is literally nothing that works in this film. There is nary a chuckle to be found in its morass of jokes on poop, enemas, flatulence and body fluids. At the end, the question lingers as to how so many talented people ended up in this mess?