Buy this DVD at Amazon.ca Buy this on VHS at Amazon.ca

---

A Las Vegas casino owner sets up the ultimate betting adventure for his biggest clients.  At his casino six people are selected by winning a golden coin in the slot machines.  When they are brought together there are eight of them, including a team of brothers and a mother-daughter team.  They are told that as part of a contest they will be racing to Silver City, New Mexico (563 miles away) and the prize is two million dollars in a duffel bag in a bus locker.  They can get there any way they can and the only rules are the first one to open the locker with their key wins.  What they are not told is that other people are betting on who will win.  At first the people are stunned but then the mad dash begins.

Rat Race is more fun than a busload of Lucys (Lucille Ball impersonators)!  In fact the film has such a busload almost as if to prove the point in quantity at least.  There a couple parts where the comedy is a bit too juvenile, but otherwise this is a great comic tour de force full of great actors.  There is John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson, Dave Thomas, Jon Lovitz, Seth Green, and an obviously very funny Cuba Gooding Jr.  The plot is pretty simple but that's a good thing.  The film isn't quite laugh a minute, but it is funny throughout.  There is good pacing, good direction, and extremely useful excellent timing.  The dialogue is a little flat outside of the comedic bits.

The humour ranges from sight gags, to slapstick, to pretty much every kind except subtle.  There is probably a little bit for everybody.  The film runs a slight bit long with so many characters.  It almost leads the audience to wonder if they really know how they are going to end the film.  It does tie up nicely though and is certainly a better ending than any number of ones that it could have had.  The interior sets are few but well done.  The exterior locations are pretty ho-hum overall though that is to be expected for where the film is supposed to be set.  The musical score is excellent as is the lyrical soundtrack.  Rat Race is a throw back to the famous Cannonball Run movies and a more than welcome addition to that genre.

( Thank you for reading my review.
Bob Male)

All ideas, opinions, and information are from the reviewer and are not representative of any company or group involved with the creators and/or staff of the materials being reviewed.