SAFE MEN
SYNOPSIS:
Sam (Sam Rockwell) and Eddie (Steve Zahn) are two struggling singers, who, when mistaken
for a pair of safe-crackers, are inadvertently pulled into a nether world of crime. At
first they fail to realise what they are getting into, but things change when they play
along and begin to perform a series of heists for which they are vastly unprepared. All
under the watchful eye of mafia boss Big Fat Bernie (Michael Lerner) and Veal Chop (Paul
Giamatti). In the meantime, the real safe-crackers are also on the job.
"Droll, wry characters who brighten the screen with offbeat colour, are the
mainstay of this quirky comedy, which entertains but somehow falls short. It's a cute
idea, well executed by a terrific cast, who make it work by playing it dead straight. Sam
Rockwell and Steve Zahn produce enough funny faces to amuse; both bring an individuality
that make them interesting to watch. Most of the humour is in the characters, rather than
the script, although there are some funny lines. The names are amusing – Big Fat
Bernie, his son Big Little Fat, Veal Chop and Good Stuff Leo. It’s colourful and
humorous but drags here and there and somehow wavers. There was so much potential for this
film that the outcome, even though it’s fun, is a tad disappointing."
Louise Keller
"Safe Men is promising; there is the promise of humour from the situation
(mistaken identity in dangerous predicament) and from the characters. And sure, there is
humour, but it is blunted somehow, never fully realised and vaguely unsatisfying by being
almost there but not quite. Performances verge on overacting, perhaps because we are not
immediately enthralled by the characters, and the story is a tad plodding. Pace is patchy,
too, with some excellent moments interspersed by sequences that drag. If you went with low
expectations, you’d be satisfied."
Andrew L. Urban
"Safe Men is a film bristling with well intentioned ideas that never come to
fruition. This is such a terrific idea; why is it so bad? Well, lack of consistent humour
for one. This is supposedly the Dumb and Dumber of the intellectual set, if one can accept
that contradiction, yet, no matter how utterly silly the other film was, it was at least
amusing. The problem here, the script is neither sharp nor particularly clever, and the
film's two leads, give nice, but underwhelming performances. The film's saving grace is
Michael Lerner, who shines as Big Fat Bernie Gayle. The Jewish humour could have been more
interesting, but then, so could the film. It goes to show, ideas are great if they come
with screenwriters who know what they're doing."
Paul Fischer
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CRITICAL COUNT
Favourable: 0
Unfavourable: 3
Mixed: 1
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SOFCOM MOVIE TIMES
SAFE MEN (M)
(US)
CAST: Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Pais, Harvey Fierstein, Michael
Lerner, Paul Giamatti, Christina Kirk, Michael Schmidt
DIRECTOR: John Hamburg
PRODUCER: Ellen Bronfman, Andrew Hauptman, Katie Roumel
SCRIPT: John Hamburg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Barrett
MUSIC: Theodore Shapiro
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Anthony Gasparro
RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: UIP
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: December 10, 1998
VIDEO RELEASE: October 13, 1999
VIDEO DISTRIBUTOR: Universal
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