Larger Than Life (1996)

No sex, violence and only a small amount of language help Larger Than Life accomplish its victory as a great family film. Bill Murray is his usual self: funny and unpredicatble: the king of wisecracks. But in Larger Than Life, Bill uses his talent for the families.

Fmovies: This could have been a stupid, idiotic film. Well, actually, it /is/ a stupid, idiotic film. But it works, mostly because of Bill Murray's performance.

A man who has to unload his father's trained elephant does not make for a promising story, comic or dramatic. What makes this film work is Murray's generally laid-back performance. His character -- a motivational instructor who teaches patient and thoughtful behavior -- displays such. He rarely gets badly upset, and there's little of the frantic slapstick one would expect from other actors. (I suspect Roy Blount was consciously writing such a story.) When a reviewer states that the film misses the obvious sight gags its premise suggests -- well, that's the point of it, right?

This isn't a film that demands a second viewing. But it's far better than you might expect, and its refusal to assault the viewer is welcome. It's a perfect film when you don't want to watch anything demanding.

PS: I just love the parents who say this (and other films) are good family films because they lack sex, violence, adult language, etc. Unfortunately, most such films are garbage that pervert a child's taste.

Bill Murray is a comedic genius. His demeanor is hilarious. He is the driving force of this movie. Even though this movie is meant for kids, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I wish they would release it on DVD, but Disney is funny about what they put out on DVD. If you enjoy a good guffaw, watch this movie.

Larger Than Life fmovies. Jack Corcoran is an inspiration speaker who is trying to get his career moving to get the bigger gigs after having a best selling book. He bases his theory on his ability to get over his father's death just before his birth. He is surprised to find his father has just died and has actually left him an inheritance. He travels out to collect to find that his father was a clown and his inheritance is substantial -–in fact she's an elephant. Now he has less than a week to get across country to deliver the elephant to one of several interested parties.

Around about this period Bill Murray films kinda sunk to a bit of a low in terms of money making and quality. One thing has kept him a star however and that's himself – even an average film can be made enjoyable by him, and that's what happens here. The plot is predictable – who will he give the elephant to, the evil trainer or the jungle bunny? Will he make it in time? The answers are easy, but no matter. The message about loving animals etc are a little sentimental and don't sit well with the idea that we are actually watching an animal that belongs to a movie organisation such as the one being shown here as evil!

The comedy is also predictable – we know the elephant will knock things down and lift things up etc, but it's not overdone and is amusing to a point. It may not be rocket science but it will please kids for sure. For adults the physical nature of this comedy is tempered by a world weary Murray who really does make the film worth watching. He is a funny guy and although he is on auto-pilot here, he is still very good.

The film rests solely on his shoulders and he just about carries it off. The rest of the cast may well be made of faces but they are all in minor roles. People like Piven, Garofalo, Fiorentino, Jerry Alder, Presnell etc are all round the edges making it look tidy but really do little. McConaughey has a bigger, minor role but he isn't very good. His character is funny but he doesn't quite carry it off and I wonder if he is embarrassed by it now.

Overall this sort of thing usually stinks the place up, and this one doesn't. It's nothing special but is amusing enough to pass the time. This is mainly due to Murray doing his usual world-weary cynical act – we've seen it before but that doesn't mean it's not still funny.

Bill Murray stars alongside an elephant.! He's no ringmaster in the circus, but rather inherits the elephant named Vera (after his mother) from his recently deceased father. Essentially, Larger than Life is a comedy road movie, wherein Bill Murray's character Jack must travel by any means necessary to facilitate Vera. It's a great movie about family connection's and doing what's right.

When originally released, Larger than Life was not very well liked by critics, the fanbase was even small. Over time though, the film has become somewhat of a favorite among Bill Murray fans. It's hard to find on dvd these days, at a decent price. It's an obscure film that's been overlooked for the goodness it holds.

I remember seeing this movie with my Aunt a little after it came out in the theaters. We were the only people in the place and that shocked us because it turned out to be a very good movie. I remember saying to her that it was a good thing nobody else was there because we laughed as loud I ever have. I haven't seen it since then but I would love to see it again and find out if it is on DVD. It surprises me that this isn't at any of the rental places I have been to, including the almighty blockbuster. I think I was about 19 at the time it came out. This would be a great family movie too. I recommend seeing this. It is very underrated.