Will the creative geniuses who cast Saturday Night Live members in films ever learn from their mistakes? Chris Kattan, a repertoire SNL actor, stars in Corky Romano, a slapstick mob comedy that falls a mile and a half short of critical acclamation.
Kattan, widely known for SNL characters like Mango the neurotic showgirl and alongside Will Ferrell as a Butabi brother in Night at the Roxbury, dares to venture into a movie without his fellow SNL cronies. He's hilarious on the tube, but not so comical when his skits are stretched and formatted for the big screen.
Corky Romano starts with the mobster Romano family in legal trouble: Pops Romano (Peter Falk) is charged with murder and kidnapping. This Italian family mirrors the composition of any mobster family movie. Pops, the head of operations, falls ill and relies on his sons for his vindication. The two Romano brothers — Peter (Chris Penn), the illiterate lady's man, and Paulie (Peter Berg), the closet gay muscleman — are the epitome of Italian thugs in the family.
Now there's Corky. The good-natured assistant veterinarian at a deadbeat animal clinic, and black sheep of the family, is called upon to go undercover for the FBI to pilfer incriminating evidence against Pops. Kattan pulls off the clumsy, neon-colored-tie-wearing, jumpy, caffeine overdosing, '80s pop-singing character naturally. Maybe if Kattan stood still for a moment, he would be appreciated more for his acting, rather than his ability for spastic movements.
After being threatened with bodily harm from his brothers, Corky is strapped to a wire and sent into the FBI office. Agent Corky Pissant, pronounced piss-ant by his co-agents, reports to duty. Corky's task force is assigned to track down the "Night Vulture," a criminal who severs the genitals of his victims.
A typical dragnet group of agents plays alongside Corky in these Naked Gun types of covert operations. You've got the tough guy Agent Brick Davis, the attractive and sharp love interest Agent Russo (Vinessa Shaw), the good fellows Agent Darnell (Dave Sheridan) and Cox (Rodger Fan), and also the wise Chief Shuster (Richard Roundtree). Meanwhile, attempting to steal the Romano files, Corky is pushed into one situation after another that tests his supposed investigation expertise. Predictably enough, Corky saves the day by sheer luck and incredibly unbelievable stunts of coincidence.
The movie's plot and originality slowly thin by the end. But hardly anyone coming into this movie expects to be entertained by a spellbinding plot; they come to see Kattan at his best, corky and fidgety.
The best part of the movie, apart from the trite cameo of the midget club bouncer or the outlandishly cheesy group hug signifying the film's happy conclusion, is the happy wedding ceremony, which is a recurring theme in Kattan's recent films.
In the end, this movie has the entertainment factor equivalent of watching a dancing monkey for 86 minutes. But when you angrily storm out of the theater, justify it with this silver lining. Hey, it was $7.50 worth of rest and relaxation.
