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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Big Trouble

EMAILPRINTTouchstone Pictures

Big Trouble reviews
47
6.8 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Crime

Written by: Dave Barry (novel)
Robert Ramsey
Matthew Stone

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

Release Date:
Theatrical: April 5, 2002
DVD: October 8, 2002

Running Time: 85 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for language, crude humor and sex-related, material

Starring Tim Allen, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina, Ben Foster, Janeane Garofalo, Jason Lee, Rene Russo, and Tom Sizemore

Based on the novel by Dave Barry, this is an ensemble comedy about how a bomb in a suitcase changes the lives of a divorced dad, an unhappy housewife, two teenagers, two hit men, two street thugs, two FBI men, and a psychedelic toad.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Zigging and zagging serenely between the extremes of deadpan, postmodern comedy and the antic, Max Sennett-style japery of yore.

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80

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

This is, after all, the kind of movie in which traffic accidents not only mess up getaways but also liberate goats to wander through the airport. We need more of that stuff.

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75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

With a cast of characters so large that Robert Altman would feel at home, Big Trouble manages to do a lot of clever little things and generate quite a few big laughs without wearing out its welcome.

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75

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

There are stretches of big fun in Big Trouble, and little pleasures too.

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75

USA Today Claudia Puig

The script is consistently humorous, even if a few punch lines are predictable and the wit is neither highbrow nor split-a-gut funny.

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75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

A slick, smart-alecky rat-a-tat crime comedy.

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75

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Timing is key in a comedy like this, and Sonnenfeld keeps everyone and everything clicking. The pacing is swift and the laughs are steady.

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70

Film Threat Gareth Von Kallenbach

Light-hearted and enjoyable film that will have you exiting the theater with a smile.

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67

Austin Chronicle Russell Smith

A gleefully overplotted crime yarn that channels in sanitized form the perverse subtropical-noir sensibilities of Carl Hiassen.

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63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's the kind of movie you can't quite recommend because it is all windup and not much of a pitch, yet you can't bring yourself to dislike it.

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63

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

A comedy that doesn't work if you think about it too much. Cut it some slack, however, and you just might have a good time.

60

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

With all its misfires, though, and with a Strangelovian twist that's a dud, Big Trouble remains a reasonably pleasant way to spend an hour and a half and still get change.

50

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

There are some decent jokes along the way. And none of the performances is bad. But they are limited by the script, which allows each character only one comic note.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It seems naive, almost delusional.

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50

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The cast manages to maintain its dignity while sweat and dirt go flying around.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

A feature that suffers from the rarity of its wit yet benefits from the briskness of its pace.

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50

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

The folks at Disney's Touchstone Pictures would have been wiser, however, just to have forgotten all about this hyperactive farce.

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50

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Sonnenfeld mishandles the broad part of the comedic formula, preferring repetition to thematic development.

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50

Village Voice Nick Rutigliano

Cute intentions and shaggy comedy only get you so far when the world is falling down around you.

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50

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

It's a letdown from the man who brought us "Men in Black" and "Addams Family Values."

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50

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Such a feebleminded, good-natured comedy that it actually makes you laugh with that timeless gag of somebody pretending to cough while calling someone else a bad name.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

It's a tribute to the film's goofy, inconsequential charm that it's still possible to laugh as someone sneaks a bomb past airport security.

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50

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A pleasant diversion, a lightly amusing criminal comedy with a plot so complicated even the people in it can't quite believe what's happening.

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42

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

It's something we might mildly enjoy on an airplane (well, not anymore) or on a lazy Sunday TV day when nothing else is on, but in theaters, it's a clunker.

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40

Variety Joe Leydon

A genially amusing ensemble farce that doesn't quite achieve enough momentum for liftoff.

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38

Boston Globe Renee Graham

Juggles so many stories and characters, nothing ever develops into more than a rough sketch.

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30

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's not the bomb on the plane that scuttles this film: It's the mugging, ham-fisted direction and total absence of comic timing.

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25

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

A mediocre movie that will be wiped from its stars' résumés with head-spinning speed.

25

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

What remains discomforting is their sheer failure to be funny.

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20

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

Lazy, infinitely silly cartoon.

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20

New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky

Feels like an in-joke, a party where everyone on the screen's having a better time than anyone in the theater, and they all couldn't care less. And that's just no fun at all.

20

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The big problem with Big Trouble, despite a fine cast and director (Sonnenfeld made "Get Shorty" and "Men in Black"), is that the damn thing isn't funny.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Pat C. gave it a5:
Generally unpolished and harmless comedy. But watch for Siobhan Fallon Hogan, delicious as the airline ticket agent.

Linda A. gave it a9:
This movie gets better every time we watch it as there are so many characters (several of them fast talking) and great lines that it was hard to appreciate them all at one time. My husband and I have watched this DVD many times and we just crack up! We really appreciate how American pop culture is integrated into the movie -- Martha, the Discovery Channel, etc. We highly recommend this film for any adults who need a night of laughter.

Craig E. gave it a 7:
I think the American critics need to take that stick out of your arse as i found this amusing. Not all Films have to be blockbusters, this film had me laughing in parts expecialy the cops "standing there with their d**ks in their hands."

Jeremy gave it a 7:
A movie for us South Floridians, and a mostly hillarious one at that.

Alastair P. gave it an 8:
A wonderful romp with a large and excellent cast. Laughed a lot. Rarity--it was as good as the book.

Paul D. gave it a 3:
Good cast wasted in sophomoric, uneven comedy. A few funny moments don't make up for the far-fetched, cartoonish script and clunky direction.

Mary Alice R. gave it an 8:
Did a lot of wonderful, healthy laughing out loud in this movie, and it put me in a good mood for days.

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