W.C Fields’ most famous quote was to “never work with animals or children.” Bill Murray’s 1996 attempt at a family comedy, Larger Than Life, in which his character must get his recently inherited circus elephant from Baltimore to San Diego in five days, is a mixed bag, with many of the jokes and situations falling flat. Perhaps Murray should have heeded Fields' advice.
Studio: MGM
Distributed By: Olive
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: None
Rating: PG
Run Time: 1 Hr. 34 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray
Blu-ray keepcaseDisc Type: BD25 (single layer)
Region: A
Release Date: 11/24/2015
MSRP: $29.95
The Production Rating: 2.5/5
Motivational speaker Jack Corcoran (Bill Murray) has built his life based on the belief that his father drowned while saving a young boy before he was born. This all comes crashing down around him when he receives a telegram at his engagement party notifying him of his father’s recent demise in Baltimore. Jack quickly learns that his father was a circus performer and has inherited a circus elephant named Vera, as well as a bill for $35,000 in damages made by Vera. Desperate to unload Vera, pay off his debt, and get to his next speaking engagement, Jack begins calling various zoos, and ends up talking to Mo (Janeane Garofalo), an elephant keeper at the San Diego Zoo who just so happens to have $30,000 left in her budget to send a pack of elephants to Sri Lanka as part of a breeding program. Jack then begins to make the trek to California by way of train, meeting with a scrupulous conductor (Keith David), stopping off at Kansa City to meet up with his late father’s friend Vernon the “Blockhead” (Pat Hingle), hoping to get some tips on how to control Vera for the rest of the journey. Vernon gives Jack a business card for a Hollywood animal talent agent, Terry (Linda Fiorentino), who begins a bidding war for Vera. Jack and Vera’s journey also takes them to a truck stop, where they hitch a very short ride with crazed driver Tip Tucker (Matthew McConaughey), who then pursues them for the rest of the film. When Jack finally arrives in California, he must decide if Vera should go with Terry and pursue an acting career, or set her free to roam with other elephants in Sri Lanka.
Larger Than Life came at a time where I think Bill Murray was trying to reinvent himself as an actor. He tried playing the straight man in Mad Dog and Glory in 1993, took a supporting role in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood in 1994, and played the charmingly unlikeable Ernie McCracken in Kingpin earlier in 1996. In Larger Than Life, Murray comes off as fans would expect during the opening credit sequence as he gives a motivational speech (which I suspect was mostly improvised) at a recliner sales convention. But the movie winds down quickly after that, as it settles into a road picture, and Murray’s performance feels like it is phoned in, never really engaging with Vera or with the audience. As the journey ends, it feels more like just getting from point A to point B, rather than an emotional one.
Video Rating: 3.5/5 3D Rating: NA
Olive Films brings Larger Than Life to Blu-ray in an acceptable yet somewhat dated-looking 1080p transfer, retaining the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, utilizing the AVC codec. This is an excessively grainy print (resulting in an overly soft image), with noticeable dirt and minor scratches. Colors are consistent, although often leaning towards a brown hue, but never appearing overly saturated. Contrast is also acceptable, although shadows do tend to blend in a bit too much in some of the darker sequences.
Audio Rating: 1/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 does its job, providing clear and distinguishable dialogue directled mostyly to the center channel when playing back in Pro Logic mode. Music and sound effects are spread across the front soundstage, with some occasional bleed to the matrixed surround channel. The head scratcher with this release is that Larger Than Life was released to theaters in DTS Digital Sound, yet all we get is a matrixed 2.0 track on the disc.
Special Features Rating: 1/5
Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:26)
Overall Rating: 3/5
The younger crowd may enjoy this family-friendly road picture with Bill Murray and a circus elephant, and the comedian’s fans may rejoice at finally having this film in high definition, but this is obviously not one of Murray's better films. The presentation is an acceptable one, and the bonus features are very minimal.
Reviewed By: Todd Erwin
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