Chain of Fools (2001)

Must See Movie...

Disapointment

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Robert Bollingsworth's dying words are "Where is the moose?" (or, possibly, "When will the moose come?"), which must be an inside joke for the Swedish audience from the two (Swedish) directors. Supposedly, the elderly Swedish king, Gustav V, (the present king's great grandfather) once fell asleep in church during a lengthy sermon. Suddenly, the king awoke, and believing he was on a moose hunt, he asked aloud "När kommer älgen?", which literally translates into "When does the moose come?". The phrase has been used e.g., by the Swedish comedians "Hasse & Tage", Hans Alfredsson and Tage Danielsson, in one of their stage productions, where Tage Danielsson played Gustav V.

This started off a little slow, but quickly accelerated to a very quick pace. It went so fast for the last two thirds of the movie that you really had to pay attention to get everything. The twists are great, and incredibly funny. The plot is pretty good, not brilliant but allows for some very funny twists, and some unbelievably funny, but fairly unlikely, very complicated, situations that will make you laugh for several minutes without stopping for a breath, provided that you like black humor. The actors all do pretty good jobs, even Elijah Wood, who I normally hate with a passion, pulled off an entertaining performance. There weren't really any of the actors I was heavily disappointed by. All of the characters were funny, in their own, twisted sort of way, most of them are either caricatures or stereotypes, but they work really well together. The humor was great, most of the time, though some of the jokes fell flat, but most of it was a treat for fans of black comedy(like me). The sparse number of action scenes there was, were really great. The movie has a very good fast pace throughout most of the movie, there was hardly any moment where I was bored. The movie has some scenes that take place on a non-linear timeline, especially in the beginning, but the moment these are over, the film finds a better pace. This is not to say that these scenes were bad, in fact I find them to be a great start to the film. Overall, the movie was quite good, but some of the humor seemed to be more there to shock than to amuse, some of it did seem over the top. It could have been better, had the humor been more balanced and had more of the characters been believable and likable. In the end, the movie has some great laughs, but that's about it. It's easily forgettable. I recommend this to pretty much any fan of black comedy. It's not the best, but it's a pretty good one. If you're not easily offended, and you like black humor, it's worth checking out. 7/10

Ok, before I begin, I'd like to say that I'm a fan of Elijah Wood and the fact that he's in it made me bought this movie. And surprisingly, I enjoyed the movie and all its characters instead of just Elijah Wood's.The entire movie is actually based on a somewhat simple plot but there are so many people involved in it, and with all the flashbacks you can actually see how they're related to one another, which cracked me up.The movie is funny in its own simple ways. I wouldn't label it as 'slapstick' immediately because obviously there's a plot clinging on to it and the movie follows that plot.There were loads of funny moments. When Andy, the Timberscout (David Cross) began insulting Miss Cocoa (Orlando Jones) and when Boilingsworth (Tom Wilkinson) tripped while walking from his car to meet Avnet (Jeff Goldblum).For reasons not related to my liking for Elijah Wood (hey dudes, they simply ARE funny), I most liked the parts when hitman Mikey (Elijah Wood) repeated to Kresk (Steve Zahn) "I didn't mean to brag, but do you know about Senator Dove..." when in fact... (uh, you'll have to watch the movie to find out). the part when he cried was kind of out of the blue and the snotty man looked so strange then.The show is entertaining, but the video is probably not attractive enough to be picked up by non-fans of the cast. 7 stars

The movie industry never ceases to amaze me. How can it be that such a gem as this can be hidden away for so long and only be shown in scattered parts of the globe? It is a travesty and a huge mistake on someone's part. I know for a fact that this movie would go down a storm in the U.K. Yet, three years after it was made, it has never been seen in a British cinema, never been released on video or DVD in Britain and has not yet been shown on TV either. I had to buy a video tape from Australia!But, make no mistake, this movie is unique and an absolutely brilliant comedy. It is a chapter of accidents, in which nothing ever goes according to plan and the flashbacks, where events are constantly changing, are a hoot.To me personally, the Orlando Jones, Miss Cocoa character was a bit pointless, but some would no doubt find him amusing. Otherwise, the characters were a treat and superbly played. I single out Steve Zahn who was excellent as the bungling barber, Kresk; Elijah Wood who made me ache with laughter as a "hitman", the new kid on the block; Jeff Goldblum as the wicked Avnet; Tom Wilkinson as the English scoundrel, Bollingsworth; and Salma Hayek who could arrest me anytime. But,oh, Devin Drewitz! Devin Drewitz, was terrific as the hyperactive, Scottie. He was never still for an instant. Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, but Dennis the Menace had nothing on this kid. Remember the name! The kid will go far.