Lost and Found (1999)

Director: Jeff Pollack Running time: 99 minutes Rated PG-13 (for sexual humor, brief nudity, and some language)

By Blake French:

On his own, David Spade is not very funny. He, James B. Cook and Marc Meeks co-write the new comedy, "Lost & Found," rewriting and recycling what was once hilarious material into dry, laugh resistant comedy. Why does the audience care so little about the characters in this film? Why are there so few funny moments? Why does David Spade think the film is worth ruining the reputation of the normally reliable Sophie Marceau and Martin Sheen? Why are there so many plot holes in the film? I have one statement that answers every question above: because the script of "Lost & Found" really sucks. Here are ten reasons why:

1. The entire film is filled with endless unfunny jokes about private parts, age, reputation, homosexuality, stupidity, sex, and we even get to see Jon Lovitz as a legendary Dog Whisperer. Not much of the witticism is even giggle-inspiring, not to mention the mere insanity of it all.

2. The film spews out lots of desperate humor, but it all seems more appropriately written for some canceled sitcom. This Reminds us that David Spade stars in the comedy sitcom "Just Shoot Me." Like that television program, the material found in "Lost & Found" grows painfully tired after about twenty minutes into the picture.

3. There is not any character development here. We first meet the main character, Dylan Ramsey (David Spade), as he's practicing his break-up speech for his girlfriend with a bird. How do the filmmakers expect us to care about anything that happens to the characters when we don't know them well. This is why the characters lack interest.

4. The running joke in the picture has to do with Dylan's love interest's, Lila Dubois (Sophie Marceau), dog. Some of the dialogue exchanged between the dog and Dylan shows just how badly written the script is here. "I'll throw, you catch," explains Dylan to the listening canine, "It's the latest craze--all the cool dogs are doing it." That is the type of humor we receive with the dialogue. Ha-ha.

5. Obviously, much of the film's humorous material is recycled out of other better comedies. The animal jokes come from the inevitable "There's Something About Mary," and "Turner and Hooch." The gags about age and stupidity come from "The Odd Couple" movies.

6. For some strange reason, David Spade's character seems to come naturally for him here. Unlike "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag," where his character seemed strained and contrived, as Dylan Ramsey, Spade seems to be content and effortless comfortable. This is not really a good thing. I just felt like saying something about that fact.

7. Like I have already said, the production is co-written by Spade, and he is able to release his peripheral bad taste sexual context here, that all seems unnecessary and more vulgar than amusing.

8. There isn't much of a story in "Lost & Found," the film is mainly composed of disastrous, although related, humorous events that don't inhabit enough plot to sink our teeth into. The love story is also deprived of chemistry and romantic emotions.

9. The conclusion to this movie is predictable and formalistic. We see a happy ending coming a half hour before it occurs. Although David Spade performs a nice, inspirational

Fmovies: I'm a comedy-lover... I truly believe there ain't anything better than getting breathless while spending 1 hour and a half in front of a TV...

I do like strong and dramatic movies, but comedy is my real passion...

The bad thing about comedies, though, is that the more you watch them, the harder it gets to laugh at the next ones.

I've watched this movie twice, maybe, and now I'm watching it for the third time... I'm laughing at jokes I've already seen, and I'm not particularly dumb today, at least I think so...

I'm not a Spade fan either, but sometimes he just makes it.

Plus, I really hate some romantic comedies, with pauses on jokes for girlie scenes (sorry girls for the sexism...) Spade and Marceau have managed to turn even these scenes into funny tirades...

I recommend. Not the best comedy ever, but I give it a 7.

It made me recover from my disgust with romantic Hollywood comedies after that Aniston-Vaughn flick which I wanted so much to watch, just to get disappointed later.

Why?!? Why?!? WHY!?!?!

For the love of all that is sacred and holy, WHY would someone think to cast Sophie Marceau as a romantic love interest to David Spade?!? If patching Ralph Fiennes with Jennifer Lopez in 'Maid in Manhattan' wasn't bad enough, this is truly worse.

I'll leave it at this: Sophie Marceau's agent needs to be shot. For an actress as beautiful and as talented as Sophie Marceau is, her career in the United States should have rocketed after the success and popularity of Braveheart. (I don't think I have met a single person who didn't she wasn't gorgeous in that movie.)

Instead, the supreme excellence of all that is Sophie Marceau has been reduced to a wide slate of garbage films, not the least of which is 'Lost and Found'.

David Spade is one of the single most obnoxious actors in Hollywood, and his sarcasm is neither charming nor endearing. (Without Chris Farley, I have yet to understand why he still has a career.) His 'romance' with Sophie is ridiculous at best, and the only reason you can even make it THROUGH the movie is because this is one of the only U.S. films that Sophie actually stars in. I mean, you get to see her in almost every scene, and she looks gorgeous in every minute of the movie. (Why else would I have braved it the whole way through?)

Thank GOODNESS there is only ONE kissing scene. *Bleh*

Truth be told, I don't think I would have really had anything negative to say about the movie (heck, I doubt I would have even watched it at all) had they cast a leading lady who was a little more down to David Spade's class... (i.e. Denise Richards or some other Hollywood tripe.)

If you're a fan of David Spade, you're bound to love it. If you're a fan of Sophie Marceau's...

*cringe*

I advise you to watch with caution.

Lost and Found fmovies. I always knew that David Spade could not hold a film by himself. "Lost & Found" is a movie that proves it. At least when he was in movies such as "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep", we were provided with a few laughs by Chris Farley. The duo together were occasionally funny as well. David Spade hasn't changed in "Lost & Found"; he just hasn't got someone at his side to make fun of his sarcasm and the result is a movie that is completely unfunny, boring, and pointless. It was difficult to not get up and walk out.

The story (if you can call it that!) revolves around Spade's character as a restaurant owner who has been dumped by his stripper girl-friend, Ginger and is in desperate search for love. Ohhh, how sweet!!!! He becomes interested in a French cello player who lives in his building and big surprise; he ends up having to compete with her dog for attention, so he kidnaps it hoping that he will receive more attention from her as a result. What an original idea! Ha!

Throughout the movie, I found myself thinking about Robert Altman's wonderful movie, "The Player", which illustrates how many Hollywood films get produced. When someone approaches a producer with an idea, coherent stories are not communicated, but pitches of ideas, which are almost always based on previous films. I could just picture a group of executives sitting around a table pitching ideas for "Lost & Found". "Its going to be 'Something about Mary' meets 'Tommy Boy". "We need a screwball main character, kind of a nerdy type who of course is just dumped by his girlfriend". "We need a sexy replacement (a beautiful French Cello player being perfect". "There has to be some kind of struggle, perhaps with an ex boyfriend who is also a musician". "Oh yeah, and we can't forget the dog, audiences always love a dog". This is the kind of pitching that goes around the big Hollywood studios, reinforcing movie cliches that we see over and over again.

Well, I'm afraid I don't know what else I could possibly comment on. Please, just do not see this movie, it is a complete waste of time, money and and hour and a half of enjoyment. I can not even see fans of David Spade enjoying "Lost & Found". I saw it at a screening with a couple of friends who like David Spade's sarcastic sense of humor, and even they loathed this movie.

1/2* out of ****

Unlike most romantic comedies Lost and Found is truly funny. Other romance/comedies tend to focus mainly on the romance and kinda forget to put any comedy in. Lost and Found is very funny, plus it has genuine emotion and romance. David Spade is great as Dylan, and unlike most of his roles, he plays a really likeable guy. He plays the hero you root for,instead of his usual sarcastic jerk character. The jerk in this movie is Patrick Bruel as Renee, Lila's sleazy ex-boyfriend. Sophie Marceau is likeable as Lila,but lacks personality.Artie Lange is hilarious as Spade's unwanted sidekick, Wally. But the true star of this one is David Spade. I loved this movie and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a great comedy w/ a little romance.

I thought this movie was pretty funny and one of David Spade's finer moments in his career. I'm not a huge fan of his(I'm more of a Sandler type guy). But he does some good stuff.

Dylan has just fallen in love with his new neighbor, Lila. He can't seem to get her attention though. So he "dognaps" her dog and plans to give it back and be a hero. But the dog ate his best friend's wedding present so he has to get it back and hijinks ensue as he must deal with the dog, his restaurant and Lila's ex-boyfriend.

This movie had several good things about it. Artie Lange had the funniest scenes. People may call him a Farley-wannabe, but I think he's just as funny as him, if not funnier. Jon Lovitz also has a funny cameo.

Good stuff. 8/10