By: debbie lynn elias
Abounding with silliness, “Corky Romano”, is the perfect antidote for what ails you. Although shallow and at times uneven, Saturday Night Live’s ever-funny Chris Kattan as Corky, is an endearing goof-ball with a heart the size of Texas, guaranteed to make you smile.
The epitome of a klutz and trapped in a 1980’s musical mind set (think 1950’s Jerry Lewis at his goofiest), Corky works as a veterinary assistant at the Poodles and Pussies animal clinic where he aspires to be a full-fledged vet with his own pet hospital. Loved by animals and old ladies alike, Corky’s exuberance and over-eagerness to please makes for some interesting slapstick and physical comedy. Think 5 year old after a gallon of ice cream, cartons of chocolate Tastykakes and 10 pounds of candy.
Son of Pops Romano, head of the Romano crime family, and having one brother who is a repressed homosexual (Chris Penn) and the other an illiterate whose reading material consists of pictorials in Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler (Peter Berg), much to the dismay of his crime lord siblings, Corky is called upon by his father to infiltrate the FBI for purposes of destroying evidence being used to put Pops away in prison for life. Believing his father to be in the landscaping business, Corky is shocked when he learns the true nature of the family business but nevertheless reluctantly agrees to step up to the plate provided someone can take over for him at the animal hospital as he has little pets depending on him.
With a resume created by a mob computer hacker, Corky Pissant (that’s Pee-sont to you and me), emerges as a federal super agent crime solver, Harvard graduate, five language linguist and sharpshooter. Headed by FBI director Howard Schuster, played by the original tough guy himself, Shaft’s Richard Roundtree, Corky is quickly assigned to the Night Vulture task force. Plunging head first into his FBI duties, while feverishly trying to make it into the evidence room to steal the evidence on the family, Corky bumbles and stumbles his way into the brotherhood, endearing himself to his fellow agents with his apparent quick-wittedness and tactical ability, not to mention veterinary skills, which the audience knows is, of course, pure dumb luck. Of course, there’s always one bad apple and here it’s in the form of Agent Brick Davis expertly played by Michael Glave. Having perfected the role of obnoxious, arrogant, self-absorbed Cretan who inevitably breaks down weeping and sobbing, “you don’t like me – why don’t you like me” in “The Wedding Singer, Glave’s Brick is a perfect foil to Kattan’s Corky.
Although director Rob Pritts leaves much to be desired during the film’s 86 minutes, he nevertheless does well in bringing inanity and insanity to the screen with some well placed comic shticks involving the mob versus skinheads and Corky’s ineptitude with automatic weapons. Nicely done, thanks to writers David Garrett and Jason Ward, is the character development of Corky throughout the film. Not static, we see Corky’s persona grow and develop some backbone to go with that very large sweet heart of his.
A no brainer as Pops is Peter Falk who could probably sleepwalk his way through this tried and true character. (Of course, here the infamous trenchcoat so connected to him is replaced with silk lounging robes.) Fred Ward is another natural, cast here as undercover FBI informant Lou, right hand man to Pops. And on the sidelines leading the cheers are Roger Fan and Dave Sheridan as by the book feds who quickly become Corky converts and devotees. Some subdued comic timing by Vinessa Shaw as Corky’s love interest, fellow agent Kate Russo, adds that boy meets girl element almost mandatory to any film.
And hats off (or is that ties on) to costumer Tom Bronson for the incredible splashes of color which helped make the FBI almost as bright as Corky’s smile.
