CORKY ROMANO (2001)

Directed By: Rob Pritts
Written By: David Garrett & Jason Ward
Cinematography By: Steven Bernstein
Editor: Alan Levy

Cast: Chris Kattan, Vinessa Shaw, Peter Berg, Chris Penn, Peter Falk, Fred Ward, Richard Roundtree, Vincent Pastore, Matthew Glave, Dave Sheridan, Zach Galifianakis

A naive, bumbling veterinarian named Corky Romano the outcast son if a Mafia boss, is recruited by his family to infiltrate the FBI and steal any and all evidence that will put his cranky father named Francis A. "Pops" Romano in jail! But he's in way over his head when he's made out to be a super agent. It's a reputation must live up to as he tries to fake his way through one tough assignment after another while hunting for the elusive incriminating proof of his father's illegal activities.

Not that I was expecting much, but a laugh here and there wouldn’t hurt. This film feels like a combination of all the characters Chris Kattan played on Saturday Night Live. Just happy go lucky and always perky with a feyness ad continuously picked on and nervously awkward.

The only time he seems to be cool is pretending to be an FBI Agent. His fellow agents think his screw ups are revolutionary police work if they only knew he was really the son of a mobster who works as a vegetarian normally but is needed to find out what the feds have on his father’s criminal activities. His two brothers supervise him in his endeavors. They can’t do it because they are too well known and both harbor secrets. One is a homosexual the other is illiterate. Meanwhile Corky keeps getting into one misadventure at a time while falling for his voluptuous new partner who unbelievably falls for him back.

This film would have felt right at home in the 1980’s that were coming out weekly around that time. The type that would usually star a sitcom star, at the time probably Howie Mandel. Here you have a great cast who actually liven up the material but you stick them with not much to do and a not very charismatic leading man. Chris Kattan who can be funny tries way too hard to sell the jokes which comes off as desperate and takes the humor right out of the film mostly

It’s like a bad skit that goes on way too long and wasn’t a funny idea to begin with.

GRADE: F