In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

if you want some hearty laughs , then rat race is the movie for you .
this unpretentious little comedy , which sneaks into theaters today with very little hype ,
will have you bouncing in your theater seat .
and while the film fits neatly into the low - brow , slapstick school of comedy , one refreshing aspect is its lack of mean - spiritedness .
the plot follows a group of people chosen at random by an eccentric las vegas casino owner ( john cleese ) who must race from vegas to a bus station locker 700 miles away in silver city , n .
m .
inside the locker is a duffel bag containing $ 2 million .
the first one to open the locker , gets the bag and the money .
what the group of participants does n't know is that cleese 's donald sinclair ( " i can do anything i want -
i 'm eccentric ! " ) is staging the race as a betting game for a group of high rollers at the hotel .
the participants include vera ( whoopi goldberg ) and merrill ( lanai chapman ) , a newly reunited mother and daughter ; disgraced pro football referee owen templeton ( cuba gooding jr . ) ; italian tourist mr .
pollini ( rowan atkinson ) ; randy pear ( jon lovitz ) and his family ; the bumbling con men duane and blaine cody ( seth green and vince vieluf ) ; and cynical young lawyer nick shaffer ( breckin meyer ) .
various amusing encounters and mishaps befall the participants en route to silver city .
screenwriter andy breckman adds a nice touch by not having the racers try to sabotage one another .
the most side - splitting situations involve vera and merrill 's encounter with the squirrel lady , a nice nutsy cameo by kathy bates ; owen 's commandeering a charter bus full of lucille ball look - alikes on their way to a lucy convention ; the cody brothers misadventures with a hot - air balloon , a flying cow and a monster truck ; and the pear family 's stopover at a barbie museum , which turns out not to be what they think it is .
the pear family situation is a fine example of the way breckman 's script builds the laughs .
without going into detail , this bit segues from the museum to hitler 's touring car , to eva braun 's dark lipstick , to lovitz burning his tongue , culminating at a ceremony honoring world war ii veterans .
rat race 's cast is first rate .
cleese is wonderfully devilish and madcap ; lovitz is , at first , a bit whiny , but his character grows on you ; gooding is having a fine romp ; and dave thomas almost steals the show as cleese 's deadpan assistant , a man " born without a personality .
"
the film is directed by jerry zucker , who knows something about comedy
.
along with his brother , david , and friend jim abrahams , he was responsible for such hits as airplane ! and ruthless people .
a throwaway subplot , which is good for some laughs , features cleese and his buddies , betting on a series of outlandish situations , including one dealing with a hooker and pepto - bismol .
this is a fun little feature .
the only letdown comes at the finale , which is too touchy - feely and sweet , almost negating what came before it .
rat race is a summer sleeper , but it will keep you awake , as will the laughter of those watching around you .
P

i can imagine how good krippendorf 's tribe must have looked on paper .
it does not surprise me in the least that a group of extremely talented actors , led by the great richard dreyfuss and a good director ( todd holland ) , all wanted to make this film .
in fact , it is only the expertise by which this excruciatingly bad script has been executed that keeps me from suggesting that you stay as far away from krippendorf 's tribe as possible .
in retrospect , i can imagine how bad this film could have been .
i shudder at the possibilities of awfulness
had it starred an actor less able than dreyfuss .
dreyfuss plays james krippendorf , an anthropologist who is granted $ 100 , 000 by his university to find an undiscovered tribe in new guinea .
halfway into his two - year expedition , his wife ( apparently ) dies .
i say apparently because when or how she dies is never truly established .
later , we find out that much of the grant money was spent on big - screen tvs and other such pleasures .
so , when krippendorf finds out what happens to professors who do not use their grant money wisely , he decides to construct an elaborate lie .
he makes his own tribe , using his three children as actors in a video .
he simply makes up certain incredible facts about this tribe ( which he calls the shelmickedmu ) .
audiences at krippendorf 's lectures are amazed by his findings that the shelmickedmu practice circumcision .
and proof that the typical family unit is led by a single father is truly amazing to the anthropological community .
like all films like this , the lie becomes more and more complex , and the suspense is generated with us wondering at what point it is all going to fall out from under our hero .
dreyfuss is a funny , talented man , and he is funny in this film .
he has lots of positive energy and , unlike most comical actors , really manages to play people like this realistically .
this film also requires a lot of physical humor that i 've never seen dreyfuss perform , and he does a great job .
jenna elfman , who plays veronica mecilli , a scientist who wants in on krippendorf 's work , is also very funny and appealing here .
and the kid actors are great , as well .
but we 're talking about the script from hell .
this is one of those stories that requires such extreme suspension of disbelief that they might as well have established that the story just takes place in an alternate universe where things like this can happen .
but the ridiculousness of the story is not really
what is so bad about it .
all the cliches and the irritating plot devices could have easily been overcome by dreyfuss and crew .
no , the script is plagued with so many clueless stereotypes and mean - spirited characters that i was in disbelief as i watched .
furthermore , the manor in which all of this material is covered up is truly shameless .
take , for instance , the scene in which krippendorf gets veronica drunk so he can tape them having sex .
they get all decked out in the tribe getup , complete with paint to darken their skin .
krippendorf does this because he needs footage of the mating rituals of his tribe .
now , i saw this scene coming from a mile away , but i said to myself , " no , that would be far too tasteless .
there 's no way they 'll do that . . .
oh god !
"
they did do it .
it 's there .
i was almost more appalled by the fact that this did n't bother the other audience members with whom i saw this film .
i found it deplorable .
and when krippendorf is forced to admit that he did it , he simply apologizes without the slightest hint of conviction in his voice .
the film is filled with scenes like these .
they not only insult the audience , but they insult the types of people that the film portrays .
it would take some truly professional work to create videos convincing enough to fool an entire community of scientists , yet krippendorf
does it easily in an afternoon .
and watching dreyfuss stumble over a completely unprepared speech is funny and entertaining , but i think that most members of the on - screen audience would be able to see that he is making everything up as he goes .
if i were an anthropologist , this film would insult me immensely .
moving right along , the film plays off every stereotype our culture has ever learned regarding african tribes .
sure , dreyfuss dressing up like a chief is really funny , and it allows for some entertaining scenes , but the heart of this material is deeply clueless as to the themes and thoughts that it provokes .
it is because of dreyfuss as an actor that i was able to watch this film .
his character here is not a good subject for a film because he is a shameless liar , and never once does he show any kind of penance for what he does .
i suppose it was interesting to see the formula defied in this case , but for the purposes of good taste , i would have expected something .
no , this man sets a terrible example for his kids and colleagues , and the writer of the film ( charlie peters ) did n't include a single scene in which krippendorf takes his kids aside and tells them that what he is doing is very bad .
in fact , it 's his eldest daughter that frequently tells him that he is doing the wrong thing , and he continually shrugs off her warnings .
i suppose it 's important to admit that this is a funny film .
dreyfuss and elfman , and many of the contrived and insulting scenes , add up to a picture that is anything but boring .
and if you 're less serious than i , you probably will enjoy it .
i , however , ca n't get past these elements .
krippendorf 's tribe is being marketed as a family comedy , but this is the kind of film that teaches the kids of our society faulty lessons that they should n't be learning .
with a little more insight into its story and themes , this could have been a good movie .
N

( dimension films , " scream 2 " 's distributor , has asked press to say extremely little -- if anything -- about the film 's twisty plot .
that 's no easy task considering the wit that deserves to be mentioned here , but i will do my best to be vague ( now , there 's a first ) . )
"
the first one was [ good ] , but all the rest sucked , " said a cinematically - savvy teen in last winter 's wes craven thriller " scream , " her statement referring to the films of the " nightmare on elm street " series but really putting down franchise overkill in general .
the comment certainly carries clout : for every truly great sequel , there appears to be a couple of duds , making one wonder if writers are better off sticking solely with fresh ideas .
but like it or not , along comes
" scream 2 . " and believe it or not , it 's a doozy -- a slick , sinister , madly subversive good time at the movies , as intent on sending up hollywood 's sequel syndrome as much as its prequel poked fun at slasher conventions .
" scream 2 " is definitely that rare movie thing -- a follow - up that can stand along side its original with pride .
it 's been two years since a pair of overzealous horror movie fans clad in edvard munch - esque get - ups carved their way through the young populace of woodsboro , california .
those surviving the ordeal have gotten on with their lives .
plucky heroine sidney prescott ( neve campbell ) is a drama student at the midwestern windsor college ; her pop culture - whiz pal randy meeks ( jamie kennedy ) has tagged along .
trash tabloid reporter gale weathers ( courteney cox ) has written a best - seller based on their ordeal , the basis of which has been turned into a ( very bad ) movie called " stab . " and dewey riley ( david arquette ) , still suffering from wounds inflicted during " scream , " has left his job as a police officer for a while .
life is tranquil . . . at least for a while .
several sudden murders bring sidney , randy , gale and dewey together again , but with suspicious eyes cast on each other and most of those in their surroundings -- if these four people learned anything from the past , it 's to trust no one .
thus , the possible victim / potential killer list includes said quartet , as well as : derek ( jerry o'connell ) , sidney 's new beau ; cici ( sara michelle gellar ) , a chatty sorority gal ; joel ( duane martin ) , gale 's cameraman who 's not too thrilled with her blood - soaked past ; hallie ( elise neal ) , sidney 's sassy roommate ; debbie ( laurie metcalf ) , a local reporter who gives gale some not - too - friendly competition ; and mickey ( timothy olyphant ) , randy 's good friend and fellow film student .
cotton weary ( liev schreiber )
, the man sidney wrongly accused of her mother 's murder in scream , also shows up on campus -- but why ?
like the first scream , craven and screenwriter kevin williamson inaugurate things with a bang .
this time , it 's an extended sequence that finds an african - american couple ( jada pinkett and omar epps ) attending a sneak preview of " stab , " making sly references about everything from sandra bullock to the lunchmeat non - roles of blacks in slasher cinema .
before tragedy ensues at the screening , the movie - within - a - movie setup allows for plenty of jokey moments , including a scene from " stab " which turns scream 's now - famous drew barrymore prologue on its ear .
( " b---- , hang up the phone and
star-69 his a-- ! "
pinkett yells at the screen . )
it 's funny , creepy stuff
( i do n't think i 'll ever feel safe in a movie theater again ) that effectively foreshadows the ratio of smart scares and spoofy laughs down the road .
another flawless example of this is a riotous cell phone - assault of the killer on randy , dewey and gale in broad daylight ; it builds comedically and ends with genuine terror because of the emotional investment made on these delicious characters .
there are other superb set pieces , but explaining them risks ruining their effect .
there are more players this time around as to provide both a higher number suspects and a staggering body count .
it 's something of a trade - in -- the new characters are too large in number to be as fully - developed as the original " scream " gang , but this movie packs in knowing performances ( especially by kennedy and cox ) and more death for your dollar .
it can be argued that , while the original might outclass it by a tad , scream 2 is both scarier and funnier .
it certainly does n't skimp with shocks -- a major one being the killing of one cast member very near and dear to my heart ( i actually questioned craven and williamson 's judgment here , considering how much this person has added to these films ) .
sometimes you wish that more could have been done with stab -- the two scenes we 're shown are dead - on -- but for film fans , there are plenty of subtle nods to movies like " the usual suspects , " " aliens " and " the empire strikes back .
" still , " scream 2 "
does so many things right , it 's petty to quibble .
its penchant for parody is irresistible , discussions of the merits of film sequels and all .
the attractive , solid cast is a definite bonus .
and the denouement ( while not as shocking as " scream " 's ) is priceless ; the film 's final revelation incorporates bits of a particular horror film prominently referred to in " scream " with one of the best bad guy motives ever put on paper .
all this and a " scream 3 " is in the works .
knowing the series ' tendency for self - reference , perhaps one of its characters will again discuss the concept of sequel justice .
mentioning " scream 2 " 'll help them in their argument .

P