seen december 2 , 1997 at 6 : 50 p . m . at the glenwood movieplex cinemas ( oneida , ny ) , theater # 3 , by myself for free ( free pass ) .
[ theater rating :
*
*
* : good seats , sound , and picture ] there are many philosophies as to why we are so fascinated with cartoons .
they provide a method of total escapism in which anything will work within their context , from the outrageous slapstick of looney tunes to the intensity of japanimation .
watching " flubber " really clinched this idea for me , because it 's just a live action cartoon that presents itself as a regular comedy .
it proves how painfully unfunny all those gags and slapstick would be in reality , and how important it is to actually have a story .
the film wastes no time in establishing its lighthearted , cartoony atmosphere .
we meet medfield college chemistry professor phillip brainard ( williams ) , the typical , supposedly likable mad scientist .
within the first 10 minutes we get at least a half dozen jokes about how forgetful he is .
phillip 's memory loss seems less like a cartoony gag and more like a real case of alzhiemer 's disease - is n't this rather lowbrow comedy ?
he starts teaching chemistry after walking in on a nude figure drawing class ( an inappropriate joke for a kids ' movie if i ever saw one ) .
we learn he has stood his up fiancee , sara ( harden ) , twice at the altar simply because he 's forgotten .
sara claims to love him , but says if he forgets the wedding again she 'll stop loving him ( a sign of childish attitude the film denies it has ) .
but even cartoons must have conflicts to resolve , and it 's no surprise the major conflicts here are related .
christopher mcdonald does and even worse version of his usual villain shtick as wilson croft , a scientist who not only wants to steal phillip 's ideas , but his woman too .
what 's worse is that sara actually seems interested in him !
wilson works for a rival college that wants to buy out medfield , which is going broke , unless phillip can invent something to save the day .
one of the first rules of filmmaking is to make sure the title has something to do with the film .
the flubber is played for gags after it is introduced , but is all but forgotten about thereafter .
it 's obvious phillip is going to accidentally invent flubber , a flying rubber compound that yields tremendous energy , and the promotions make the flubber look realistic and funny .
unfortunately , the flubber , like all the special effects in this film , looks very fake and unconvincing .
flubber also seems to have intelligence and a personality , and by the time it performs a song and dance routine , you give up wondering how life could spontaneously come to an inanimate object .
most of the film wanders aimlessly as it relies on the flubber to make for the comedy ( since phillip 's absent - mindedness is forgotten about ) and somehow push the story along .
but it 's clear how weak this premise is from the get - go and the film just gets worse .
all the jokes involve people getting hit by fast - moving , flubber - powered objects including : bowling balls ; flying cars that do n't fly well ; and a basketball team capable of jumping 100 feet into the air .
it 's all presented with complete logic , and no one believes flubber exists even when they see it with their own eyes .
during the basketball scene , the coach for the rival team actually says , " i think they might be cheating , " to which the referee replies , " there 's no rules about jumping too high . "
" predictable " does n't begin to describe the motions the film goes through , especially after the halfway point .
and it 's not how terribly contrived the plot is , it 's the way it 's broken down scene - by - scene , with absolutely no transition .
not only that , but all the actors here , especially williams , seem bored to tears .
i 'd say 80 percent of all the scenes were shot with a bluescreen , so
it 's almost forgivable when you realize they 're talking to nothing and interacting with nothing .
it 's safe to say everything that could be bad about
" flubber " is .
the only original element the film has is the world 's first romance between a machine and a human .
but this aspect is quite twisted if you think about it , and , like the rest of the film , you wo n't .
Output: N