Warner
Bros. Home Video | Review by Dan Taylor
It's nice to see that big-budget
filmmakers have no qualms about taking a
dip in the low-budget gene pool to lift
an idea or two. Let's see, last year's SHOWGIRLS
was indebted to everything from STRIPPED
TO KILL to NAKED
OBSESSION. And this mutant virus epic
takes much of its town-gone-bonkers paranoia
(plus the Army invasion mentality) from
George Romero's non-zombie tale THE CRAZIES
(1973, aka CODE NAME: TRIXIE).
Unfortunately,
OUTBREAK also owes a debt to KRAMER VS.
KRAMER and RAIN MAN, making for a thoroughly
uncomfortable movie experience.
Like any good us-versus-them
potboiler, OUTBREAK opens in the past, giving
us a gander at what happens when a virus
runs rampant. In short, the voices of Morgan
Freeman and Donald Sutherland have to drop
a bomb and waste civilians and soldiers
alike in order to neutralize a bad bug.
Fast forward to the present
where Patrick Dempsey (an ER fav in his
IN THE MOOD, LOVERBOY daze) smuggles a monkey
to a pet shop, unaware that said monkey
is virally-challenged. Dempsey's little
money-makin' venture sets off a pus-spewing
chain of events as the monkey is set free,
along with many of PD's bodily fluids.
Pretty soon there's a hospital
fulla pussy victims (or should that be "pusy"?)
and Dustin Hoffman and his team are called
in to save the day. Or, at least keep the
spread of the disease to a minimum before
the town gets turned into a parking lot
by the evil, soulless Donald Sutherland.
(Please note that when I say that I'm referring
to his character, not the actor. I've never
met Mr. Sutherland, but I'm sure he's swell.)
The biggest problem with OUTBREAK
-- aside from the long, sustained laughter
it evokes -- is how much we're asked to
swallow for the sake of the dramatic moment.
1) Village elder says it's "a-ok"
to take their cool no-bug suits off, so
Rain-scientist and Co. go right ahead. 2)
The monkey smuggler keeps a picture of his
girlfriend in his foot locker, but a picture
of the infected monkey is right above his
bed. Bringing all new meaning to the term
"spanking the monkey." 3) There's
nothing Cuba Gooding can't do. Well,
except remove his helmet before he vomits
in it. And 4) Rain Man was doin' the nasty
with Rene Russo. I might believe
Clint Eastwood, but Dustin Hoffman??!!
OUTBREAK was probably lots
of fun to watch under the influence of a
good buzz at a late-night showing with a
vocal audience. In your living room it only
provides long laughs and frequent groans.
