The Big Tease (1999)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Unjustly obscure, this mock-umentary is certainly not revolutionary film making or Oscar material, but it does offer gentle laughs and some amusing performances and visuals. Ferguson stars (and appears in virtually every scene) as a Scottish hairdresser who gets a letter inviting him to an international hair styling competition in Los Angeles. This is cause for Langham to film a BBC documentary on him and much of the film is from that perspective (although Ferguson also narrates in blurbs filmed after the event.) Falling somewhere in between the lame "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and the sublime "Best in Show", the film is full of odd situations and the infectious charm of Ferguson as he sets out to win top honors. Needless to say, if Ferguson weren't entertaining the film would be sunk. Thankfully, he is delightful throughout. Fisher, though less endearing, also provides nice support for him. Several excellent comedic performers pop up along the way, notably the bizarre and side-splitting Miller as a harried hotel manager. Rasche sinks humorously into his role as Ferguson's chief competitor. McCormack, a very attractive young lady, perfectly captures the phony, insincere aspects of the contest organizer. And any film that even briefly utilizes the untapped charms of McGinley can't be all bad. Home video viewers may need to use subtitles to catch all of the remarks as the authentic Scottish accents are sometimes hard to completely understand. Some real life hair professionals appear, but star cameos are minimal. Carey inexplicably shows up as himself, but with a full head of hair. Hasselhoff comes off amusingly as himself. Crosby, an actress who always could have used a good stylist, appears briefly as a demonstration assistant. One quibble: If the film was going to be rated R anyway, why not show more of the lead's physical assets. What's shown is great, but all too brief. On it's own little terms, this is a charming and fun movie.

I ran into this film on one of the comedy stations on cable and I found it to be very funny and fun. What caught my attention was alot of actors faces I've seem before -- but didn't know the names and the parts they were playing were just priceless -- so far away from what they USUALLY play which is what made this film so much fun for me. Even as I checked the listing of credits here at IMDb, there are a few folks I saw in the film that are not listed. I don't know why, maybe because they have only a short time on screen, but their appearances were humorous. This is a funny "Rocky" for the hair styling world. A talented hair stylist from Scotland gets what he thinks is an invitation to the crown prince competition of World Hairdressers that is held in Los Angeles. He decides to film his stay and competition in Los Angeles, documentary style. He flies to Los Angeles and finds out, painfully, is what he actually got was just an invitation just to sit in the audience! Try as he might, he is told he cannot compete...and just to get rid of him, he's told that he has to be a member of the Hair Stylist Union to even be considered, and so his LA adventure begins.The film is fun as "via documentary style" we watch him run into everything LA has to give, including HIS hair styling idol who is a real snot!! The sheer will of this character trying to "beat" the system is fun to watch and at the end, you're happy for him.I recommend this fun little film highly. It's an undiscovered gem.

Trying to do for hairdressing what 'Strictly Ballroom' did for ballroom dancing, 'The Big Tease' follows Glaswegian hairdresser Crawford MacKenzie as he tries to get himself into the cut throat competition for the coveted 'Platinum Scissors' - a contest he's been invited to watch, but not to take part in. But it is so obvious that he'll walk away with the prize that there isn't any kind of feelgood factor about it.Taking the well worn fish-out-of-water scenario, 'The Big Tease' is far too slight to really make much of an impression. The whole Hollywood wannabe lifestyle is too easy a target for this type of comedy, and although some there is some mileage to be had from the situations, it all feels very stale. Actually, the film itself shows signs of suffering from that same wannabe mentality that it tries to lampoon. There are various 'celebrity' cameos, but they only serve as a reminder of how small scale the movie is. And when the expected Sean Connery cameo doesn't materialise it is an indication of the film's underachievement. An overlong sitcom pilot episode.�

"The Big Tease" is an under-rated, genuinely funny, and intelligently made film about a dauntless Scottish hair stylist, Crawford Mackenzie, and his quest for the globally coveted Platinum Scissors Award. A tour de force by Furgeson, the film delivers plenty of wry British humor and less subtle American hilarity with warmth and coherence, develops it's unlikely centerpiece (Mackenzie), sticks faithfully to it's plot, and builds to satisfying and very funny climax.