The Big White
Tags: paranormal, cult, comedy, murder, home movie

Plot synopsis:
Travel agent Paul Barnell (Robin Williams) finds a body in a dumpster that, unbeknownst to him, was left there by Mafia hitmen. Heavily in debt and attempting to find a cure for his wife Margaret's (Holly Hunter) apparent Tourette Syndrome, he stages a disfiguring animal attack with the body in order to cash in his missing brother's life-insurance policy, for which a corpse is required.
Local police are convinced, but promotion-hungry insurance agent Ted Waters (Giovanni Ribisi) is not. The hitmen who dumped the body are also in search of the corpse for proof to collect their payment. They take Margaret hostage to ensure that they will get the body. Meanwhile, Ted is having problems with his girlfriend, Tiffany (Alison Lohman), who he neglects as he works his way up in his firm.
Paul's missing brother Raymond (Woody Harrelson) returns home, beats him up, and demands a portion of the insurance money. By suggesting that Ted assaulted him, Paul speeds up the delivery of the million dollar insurance payment. He has the body exhumed and agrees to exchange it and a portion of the money for Margaret. Fearing that Raymond will attempt to kill Margaret to keep her quiet, Paul considers killing his brother in his sleep, but cannot bring himself to do so.
The next morning Paul leaves his brother asleep and meets the hit-men for the exchange. Raymond is angered at his brother's deception and arrives as well, and is told by the insurance agent, who has finally pieced together what has happened, about his million dollar policy. Raymond then pulls out a pistol and shoots Margaret in the back as she flees. He is in turn shot in the stomach by one of the hit-men (Tim Nelson). Paul finds Margaret alive; he had hidden the insurance money in her jacket, and it stopped the bullet. The brothers say goodbye as Raymond dies. Paul tells Ted that he only committed fraud out of love for his wife, which appeals to Ted's renewed feelings for Tiffany; touched, he lets them go. Using the money, Paul takes Margaret on a tropical vacation.

Review: I had never even heard of it, but considering that I really like Robin Williams and Giovanni Ribisi, I thought i'd give it a shot.
The Big White focus on travel agent Paul Barnell (Robin Williams), and him trying to overcome his financial dilemmas.
Earl Brown and Tim Blake Nelson) wanting their corpse back and keep one step ahead of insurance agent Ted (Giovanni Ribisi).One heck of a stew is cooking!You can't avoid comparing The Big White with the Coen brothers' Fargo, since they're similar in style and story.
But this film is far from bad, and it's not as black a comedy as the Coens-flick.Acting and characters are wonderful.
Even the plot is similar: a down-on-his-luck businessman (played by Robin Williams) cannot afford to help his troubled wife (Holly Hunter), who seems to suffer from some type of "stress"-induced tourette's syndrome, and decides to cash in on the long absence of his brother (Woody Harrelson) by passing him off as legally dead and gaining a $1,000,000 life insurance payment.
So when Williams finds a dead body in a dumpster outside his office (the temporary storage place for two bumbling hit men who never suspect anyone will find the body), he passes it off as his brother and collects a check.But a claims inspector (Giovanni Ribisi) is suspicious of the sudden appearance of this long-lost brother, and as he begins to investigate realizes what is really going on.
Meanwhile, Williams' wife is kidnapped by the two hit men who want back their dead body, and brother Woody Harrelson returns after reading about his "death" in a paper  demanding a portion of the paycheck.The finale is violent and unexpected, but the build-up is, at times, deliberately pretentious and decidedly "low-budget"  and if you've seen any independent film of the last ten years or so, you'll understand what this means.
Williams phones in another twisted performance, but it's Giovanni and his girlfriend in the movie, played by Alison Lohman, who really stand out  along with Hunter as Williams' oddball wife.
The story line may seem a bit similar to other movies such as A simple plan, Shallow Grave and Fargo but there was enough originality to keep you interested.
The Chemistry between Robin Williams and Giovanni Ribisi really works and you can tell the director gave them a chance to flow and add lib their scenes together.
What unfolds is a complicated plot involving the insurance claims worker desperate to prove that the corpse is not the brother, the two criminals attempt to recover the corpse by kidnapping Paul's mentally ill wife (Holly Hunter) and the return of Paul's lost brother (Woody Harrelson).This film is hilarious and in my opinion is the funniest film of 2005.
The complicated plot allows it to have plenty of comedic moments and well delivered lines by all actors especially Robin Williams.The plot is very reminiscent to that of Fargo and A Simple Plan.
The problem this film has is that the quantity of comedy in this film almost squeezes the coldness out of the plot.This film is definitely worth watching for the high comedy value it has but if you are a fan of Fargo and A Simple Plan looking for a similar dark cold thriller, prepare to be disappointed..
The Big White has some high-powered actors: Holly Hunter, Robin Williams, Woody Harrelson, Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Blake Nelson and Alison Lohman.
the ones that aren't full of cheap laughs and actually have developed characters.The Big White has been compared to Fargo for its snow, death and money.
I love Alison (see Matchstick Men), so I decided to take a look.Then, the opening credits begin and I see, Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Giovanni Ribisi, and Tim Blake Nelson, and I think, Why haven't I heard of this film before?Usually, before I order a movie with which I am not familiar, I go to IMDbPro to read a review or two.
After seeing and enjoying the film so much, I looked at a couple of reviews and one person tore it up because it seemed to be too derivative of the Coen Brothers' work.Ridiculous and Cynical nonsense.All films made now are derived from other movies, or TV shows, or books.
The cast is strong, including Woody Harrelson, more crazy and redneck than ever, Robin Williams, a desperate man because of incoming bankruptcy and a crazy wife, Holly Hunter his wife, suffering of Tourette Syndrome, Giovanni Ribisi, the mean insurance guy and Tim Blake Nelson, one of the two sensitive payed criminals.
The obvious other movie that comes to mind when watching 'The Big White' is the Coen Brothers's 'Fargo' (you know, the kidnapping/ransom of the spouse, the money, Winnipeg etc).
In 'Fargo' the humour is more subtle and disguised as drama while in 'The Big White' the dialogues and situations are more obviously funny and that's what gives it its own charm.
I have never written a review yet on IMDb, but i thought this movie deserved some praise, after watching the movie i went to IMDb and saw the rating and was quite disappointed, if it had the Cohen brothers name on it, it would have had at 7 rating at least.The cast did a great job in this movie, there is a lot of great and dark humor, all in all its probably one of the best movies i watched last year.The dialog and characters remind me a lot of a typical Cohen brothers writing/directing, I'm a big Cohen brothers fan, and this movie passed Fargo in my book, The Big White reminded me a lot of Fargo so i watched Fargo again a few days after watching The Big White and i was a bit disappointed, The Big White should be up there with the best when it comes to cult classics but sadly it didn't get the recognition it deserves in my opinion..
I never was a big fan of Robin Williams films, so I had doubts about watching this one.
Though it's a comedy, I liked it not only for humor, it's a very interesting movie, though many things were predictable, it was still somehow interesting to watch.
Holly Hunter did great too and I think her performance in this film was much better that in The Piano, though many others probably will disagree with me, but many actresses could handle that role, not many actresses could play a mentally ill woman so well as she did..
(You can't say the proper word for poo, either.) On to the film:I wasn't expecting too much, as Robin Williams isn't really my cup of tea; fortunately, he wasn't trying to be funny (which he never is) and wasn't too schmaltzy, either, so it worked OK.For me, Holly Hunter really stole the show.
There are some excellent performances from Robin Williams, Holly Hunter and Woody Harrelson.
Big name actors Robin Williams and Woody Harrelson suck you into seeing the movie, only to wish you could get that hour and forty minutes of your life back.The first problem is the pacing is incredibly slow, very much like About Schmidt.
Humor is spread thin like butter over too much bread, making a great movie to watch if you want to read a book at the same time.
Thank goodness, too, because as a straight drama, I don't think the material could get any darker.Robin is playing a financially-troubled travel agent in Alaska this time around.
He hits upon a plan to claim that the body is that of his ne'er-do-well, little-seen brother (Woody Harrelson), and collect on a million dollar insurance policy that's still active.Well, turns out that there are complications.
Earl Brown and Tim Blake Nelson) suddenly discover that they need the body as proof to present to their boss, plus the rep from the insurance company (Giovanni Ribisi) suddenly becomes positive that this guy is fudging on the claim (which he is) and he's ready to move heaven and earth to prove it.And just like FARGO, things go rapidly from bad to unbelievably worse in a dark but farcical and somehow believable way.
It's definitely a pick-me-upper and makes you actually want to visit Alaska (even though a lot of the movie was filmed in Canada).
Saying it's odd certainly doesn't make it bad, it actually is a rather well done film.It does however cry out the name COEN BROTHERS, most likely because of the setting and somewhat similar plot (keyword somewhat).
You have two "for-hire goons" after a body, a body that solves (seemingly) the Robin Williams' characters money woes, which can help his troubled wife (Hunter).
He's actually charming as the man who is constantly effed over.Woody Harrelson is always good, is a very strange man in this one and adds to the ending.All and all this movie warrants at least one viewing based on the roles played by Williams, Ribisi, Hunter and Harrellson.Check it.*** out of ****.
but it is a feel-good movie.yes,there is a body and some blood.and lots of ice,too.but mostly it's about people .it'll keep you warm.Giovanni is great.robin Williams - as good as ever.
holly hunter-extremely cute.the only underdeveloped character is that of Harrelson.it's a pity.for me, the film could've taken as much time as there is.all in all, the film's great fun to watch.not rolling with laughter, but smiling all the time..
And while I loved A simple Plan (by Sam Raimi), I just don't think this one quite achieves in replacing/follow in the steps of that movie, which is a shame.But it still is enjoyable enough to like, especially Robin Williams is great in his role.
The first time I saw this (dvd)film,I howled like a dog at the moon.Maybe it never found an audience,or,wasn't given a chance.The humor ,maybe even slyer than the Coens',which it must certainly be derivative of,may not be everyone's brand ,but it sure is mine.Holly Hunter is a hoot,Tim Blake Nelson,in fact all the characters' are portrayed like the actors' have lived with these parts for a while.
That said, I'm confident that if I had "The Big White's" $16 Million budget, indie director's dream cast, and lame "Fargo" inspired script; I could have made a better and more entertaining film.
In The Big White, a failing Alaskan travel agency owner (Robin Williams playing his Jack Dundee character from "The Best of Times"-1986) schemes to collect on his missing brother's life insurance policy by claiming that a dead body he finds in a dumpster is that of his brother.
Earl Brown) kidnap his wife (Holly Hunter) because they need the body to prove that they have carried out a contract killing.Hunter's character may or may not have Tourette's Syndrome, a psychological condition which may or may not have comic potential in a feature film.
Don't be fooled, its not an awful film but despite the likes of robin williams, giovanni ribisi, harrelson, hunter etc, the movie never gets out of first gear due to a weak script and mediocre direction..
This quirky low-key movie is definitely worth while, even just to catch Holly Hunter as Williams' Tourette's-afflicted wife.
It's nothing new or incredible, but it'll get you your perversely humorous noir fix, and who can say no to Robin Williams, playing a pitiable travel agent who spies a risky way to end his financial problems.
I expected to watch a movie about a winter holidays vacations and it turns up it's rather a black comedy in which a husband, Robin, tries to scam his insurance officer, Ribisi, to help his disturbed wife, Holly.
Robin Williams is an Alaskan travel agent, Paul Barnell, who is trying to bank on his brother's life insurance policy but he's not dead just away.
When he stumbles upon a dead body, he uses the corpse to bank upon his brother's insurance policy only his brother Raymond (played by Woody Harrelson shows up) and his wife played by Holly Hunter gets kidnapped by the men who are looking for the corpse.
And finally, you'll support Robin Williams' character all the way through.Let yourself be entertained by this really down to earth film..
What a nutty fun movie flaws and all...Holly Hunter is so good-such deadpan delivery of some of the best insults I've heard in a long time.However, what I really liked (once I realized what it was) were the pipes located inside Tiffany and Ted's apartment.Robin is as always the master of his craft and plays the suffering travel agent brother perfectly.
Figured with Robin Williams and Woody Harrelson, that you'd get some good laughs, but the summary read "black comedy", they're right there.
The music is okay, wouldn't purchase it in a store, but I know Robin Williams has made better films than this one, this must be like a "Class B" movie, try RV, he did excellent in that one.
I thought that being a Robin Williams movie, this was gonna be good, but I was wrong.
From then on, everything gets more and more absurd, with things that can't and will not happen in real life.Even with the impossibly bad script the movie might have been cool enough, but there was nothing of interest in the entire movie to make it worthwhile.It is not a comedy, because it is not funny; it is not an action movie, because there is no action; it is not a drama because you can't relate to any of the characters.
It wouldn't however call "A Simple Plan" a rip off, although this movie perhaps shows a bit too many similarities at times, with its characters for instance.
Biggest difference is that this movie is not as subtle as the earlier mentioned "Fargo", which is the reason why it's also not as good but the movie knows to be a pretty enjoyable one on its own right.The movie features a good main plot about an average man who tries to scam an insurance company and collect on the life insurance of his 'death brother'.
Of course he gets himself deeper and deeper into trouble, when the men who killed the man that the Robin Williams character used as the body of his 'death brother' show up and the insurance company investigator smell that something fishy is going on.
The movie also doesn't really fail in this but the story is perhaps also a bit too predictable to make this movie look like a clever and well thought out one.This movie is in line with Robin Williams' more serious roles, of the past few years.
The rest of the supporting cast is also impressive with actors such as Holly Hunter, Tim Blake Nelson (who both also appeared in Coen brother's movies.
I must say that the cast,of course,is the thing that makes you grab the movie in the first place.It's a real pleasure watching such a successful combination of writing,acting and directing located in a great scenery like Alaska.The actors are,finally,doing what they're good at,which is playing their roles so very good,their relationship are so wonderfully mastered by a very good director which,evidently,trusted their talents and experience of acting,and the result is a very good film,if you enjoy black comedy,an excellent demonstration of theatrical art,if i may say so.For several times during the film i felt like i was watching a play in a theater and not a movie,because of the great acting and directing this film really has.Watch it,enjoy it,is worth all the attention it can get.Well done.Bravo!.
It wasn't a comedy or thriller, the plot is easy to follow but nothing to keep you watching.Maybe I expected a little more knowing that Robin, Holly and Woody were the featured actors as I like them a lot.
Robin Williams' character wasn't funny at all which was a surprise considering it is a Comedy/Crime/Drama.Maybe I was too tired when I watched it but I had trouble staying interested although I did finish it to see what happened.
a holly hunter, not robin Williams picture that was OK.
However, I believe that this picture was definitely a Holly Hunter movie that had Robin Williams in it.
The plot recalls the movie "A Simple Plan" a bit, but it works basically as a black comedy, which may not please everyone.
The rest of the cast, where we can see names like Holly Hunter (in a nasty character, dislikeable to the public) and Giovanni Ribisi (the insurance agent, the first one to suspect the fraud), was unable to follow Williams and give the public something excellent.
Holly Hunter provides a lot of laughs, but i don't think they overdo the jokes involving her, which they could easily have done.A happy ending for all in a movie that comes across as a mix of 'Fargo' and 'A Simple Plan'.
I loved the movie for one reason: The relationship between Robin Williams and his wife was so warm and caring that it really touched me.
The casting was awesome, Robin Williams is not supposed to be funny in this movie.
Macy would have been good, too, but I think that he could not play as touching as Robin Williams did.Other than that it was extremely funny and had great ideas and scenery.
Robin Williams and Holly Hunter made a great suspense flick.
A travel agent(Robin Williams)is in bad need of money.
Finding a frozen body dumped in the trash by a couple of hoodlums, the desperate man decides to fraud an insurance agent(Giovanni Ribisi)by claiming the corpse is his long lost brother(Woody Harrelson).
Set in an Alaskan town, travel agent Paul Barnell (Robin Williams) is down on his luck and in serious debt, and tries to get the life insurance for his supposedly dead brother Raymond (Woody Harrelson) who has been missing for five years, but insurer Ted Watters (Giovanni Ribisi) needs it to be seven years.
Obviously with Paul saying that this body is brother Raymond, he is expecting the life insurance to be paid to him, and it would come in handy for wife Margaret (Holly Hunter), suffering from Tourette's syndrome and nearing insanity.