Not thinking four-dimensionally

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2004)

Zemeckis is a tricky director. He wants to be a comedy director, but like Donner, he tries having comedy by fusing it with other elements.
In the 'Future' movies it was the sci-fi/time-travel concept (in 'Part III' he added the paper-thin western genre). In 'Death' it was a Burton/Hitchcock idea. With 'Gump', American history/sentimentality. Here he tries a cartoon/noir/comedy and goofs it up.
Perhaps he became too good so he went on to the weaker efforts 'Contact', 'What Lies...', and 'Cast Away'.
Why does it fail? Maybe the first problem lies with the script, after all 'The Grinch' and 'Wild Wild West' weren't the brightest of efforts. Arthur Schmidt knows Zemeckis, and his editing isn't bad because it knows the pace. Charles Campbell's sounds and Dean Cundey's photography are right, so what's wrong?
I'd say it's the environment. We never accept the noirish settings of Beverly Hills and toon town, so it doesn't fit our expectations. It's a lot like Spielberg and 'Hook'.
Despite these shortcomings, I find Zemeckis more interesting (and efficient) than less creative directors Chris Columbus and Ron Howard.
Final Analysis = = Cinematic Dud