JUNGLE 2 JUNGLE
SYNOPSIS:
Tim Allen plays a broker whose life revolves around work.
When he goes to the jungle in Venezuela to finalise his divorce
from his estranged wife, she drops a bombshell - he has a 13 year
old son he knows nothing about….
"The grinding pressure of modern life comes face to face
with a simpler, more primitive way of living in the antic Jungle
2 Jungle. A melange of How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying and The Wild Child, with a smattering of Secrets &
Lies, it’s a cut-and-paste job shaped for the comic
sensibilities of star Tim Allen and a host of supporting players.
Apart from a few P.C. glitches, pic is a warm-hearted family
outing that should do decent mid-range business but lacks the
flare or originality to be a breakout hit… Allen has
perfected playing a presumably calm center in the storm. When he
loses control, the results are often riotous. But he’s
rapidly evolving into a sedentary presence, and that lack of
physical comedy proves disappointing in this mix. As a result,
the hyperactivity of Martin Short, as his anxious business
partner, is heightened. Always a delight to watch, Short winds up
giving too much to compensate for the star’s low-key
turn….An extremely handsome physical production, with
breathtaking Venezuelan vistas by Tony Pierce-Roberts, Jungle 2
Jungle is an otherwise modest effort. Simple truths are often the
most effective, but in this instance they are only banal and
mildly amusing."
Leonard Klady, Variety
"…The bracing thing about Jungle 2 Jungle is that it
doesn’t expect you to believe in anything. Disney’s
pragmatism comes in several varieties and in this raucous remake
of the French comedy Un Indien Dans La Ville we have the
refreshingly schmalz-free kind. Ridiculous complications occur
when Tim Allen’s futures trader tracks down the ex-wife he
hasn’t seen in 14 years to her Amazon home and discovers
that they have a son …Once back in Manhattan, the boy does a
Crocodile Dundee while the script pelts sight gags at Wall
Street, the fashion world, and a succession of household pets,
one of which - a complacent white Persian cat - stars in a scene
which plays like an out-take from a John Cleese movie. While not
exactly witty, these developments generate a few belly laughs,
and if pleasantly bland Tim Allen doesn’t emerge at the end
as quite the reformed character he’s supposed to be, who
cares? Certainly not Disney."
Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald
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JUNGLE 2 JUNGLE (PG)
(US)
CAST: Tim Allen, Martin Short, JoBeth Williams, Lolita
Davidovich, Sam Huntington, David Ogden Stiers, Bob Dishy,
Valerie Mahaffey, Lee Lee Sobieski, Frankie J. Galasso, luis
Avalos, Carole Shelley, Dominic Keating
DIRECTOR: John Pasquin
PRODUCER: Brian Reilly
SCRIPT:Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon (based on film
"Un Indien dans la Ville", by Herve Palud,
Thierry Lhermitte, Igor Aptekman, Philippe Bruneau de la Salle
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tony Pierce-Roberts
EDITOR: Michael A. Stevenson
MUSIC: Michael Convertino
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Stuart Wurtzel
RUNNING TIME: 105 minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: Roadshow
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: June 19, 1997
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