Subject: Review: Evolution (2001)

From: Jerry Saravia <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 02:51:13 -0000

EVOLUTION
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
July 3rd, 2001

The beauty of comedy is that there are no rules and, quite simply, rules are
made to be broken in the comedic arena. Director Ivan Reitman is often aware
of this, as evidenced by his crude though subtly funny "Junior" and, his biggest
hit, "Ghostbusters." Both films redefined the boundaries of good
taste by imbuing crudeness with cleverness rather than cheap, desperate gags
a'la "Austin Powers" that only serve to make the audience puke. Consider
Arnold Schwarzeneger as a pregnant man in "Junior," a premise that is otherwise
ripe for gross-out humor.  Instead that film built its premise with wit and
engaging repartee between Schwarzeneger and Danny DeVito. 

"Evolution" does the same thing, imbuing crudeness with cleverness. The premise
deals with a community college science teacher (and former scientist), Ira Kane
(David Duchovny), who partners with a sharp, jocose
scientist, Harry Block (Orlando Jones), to investigate a flaming meteor that has
burned a hole through the ground into an underground cavern. Kane's class
goes on a field trip to discover and study this meteor only to find some strange
atmosphere has developed at an accelerated rate, not to mention some expanding
and evolving wormlike creatures. Kane and Block realize this is no ordinary
meteor - it is a fertile ground for alien creatures. At first, the creatures
seem harmless in the form of butterflies until they later evolve
into flying dinosaurs, raging blue monkeys and some shapeless matter in the form
of large intestines.

The only way to approach "Evolution" is by checking your brain at the entrance
door of the cinema before the first reel is projected. It is a one-note joke
movie to be sure but it has moments of eye-opening
special-effects, shrewd one-liners and moments where you will literally jump out
of your seat. It mostly pokes fun at "Independence Day" right down to the
climax involving those humongous intestines where a central digestive tract is
the target for destruction - the expansive mass even looks like a spaceship.
Mostly, the screenplay by David Diamond, David Weissman and Don
Jakoby focuses on bodily functions and sexual entendres, as well as creepy
monsters hiding inside harmless looking alien slugs and such. Many of the
sexual entendres center around Julianne Moore as an assistant to a
soldier-scientist (Ted Levine) - she is regarded at one point as an "icy goddess
in desperate need of some humping." Speaking of the ravishing Moore,
it is nice to see her as a clumsy woman who keeps tripping over objects every
once in a while. 

"Evolution" is cutesy nonsense and often quite funny and engaging. It is
actually a breath of fresh air as compared to the gross-out humor so reminiscent
of most comedies nowadays - wit and some dry humor are this
film's virtues. As for performances, Duchvony and Jones make a delightful pair
and Moore is lots of fun to watch - nice to see her handle comedy for a
change in contrast with her dramatic roles. Only Ted Levine seems a little out
of his element as the straight-faced soldier scientist, Dr. Woodman, who
doesn't want Kane anywhere near these aliens. 

"Evolution" is not as frantically funny or as visually inventive as Reitman's
"Ghostbusters,"  but it will suffice in what has been a dry couple of years
of laughless comedies. 

For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at
http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/JATMindex.shtml

E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at [email-masked]
or at [email-masked]

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