The lives of several Miami denizens, from ad agents to gunrunners to street thugs to law enforcement to school-children, intersect with humorous and dangerous results.-- TRAILER

The key to appreciating "Big Trouble" is understanding the following philosophy: Not every film need be realistic.
This simple concept eascapes most moviegoers. Many people had problems with eccentric and excessive films such as "Moulin Rouge" or "A.I." because, as they said, "it wasn't believable."

Those same people will likely have issues with Barry Sonnenfeld's "Big Trouble." It is a far-fetched movie with even less realistic characters. Then again, just like the movies mentioned above, that weakness to some is the very reason this film will entertain others.

I am one of those who enjoyed "Moulin Rouge," "A.I.," and yes, "Big Trouble." From my perspective, the fundamental problem with people who see these films as unbelievable is that they are never meant to be "believable" in the first place. With "A.I.," Spielberg knew that his story about a robot boy needed to be set in the unrealized future. Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge" deliberately used kinetic camera styles, screwball characters and bizarre music selections to present a standard romance in a completely unconventional way.

"Big Trouble" is all about one unbelievably crazy day in which fifteen people's lives intersect. These characters are a mixed bag, from the believable ad executive to the stereotypical hired assassin to the goofball nomad who spends his days eating Fritos and living in the branches of a tree.

For those who favor creativity, "Big Trouble" will likely win you over. However, its lack of depth beyond a humorously random plot will fail to win over those who prefer "normal" works. Unlike successes such as "Star Wars" or "The Wizard of Oz," where even those who despise surreal settings could get caught up in characters and story, "Big Troub le" is a rather obvious one-act pony. As humorous as its characters are, "Big Trouble's" plot never allows them room to grow.

The "big trouble" starts when ex-columnist Eliot Arnold (Tim Allen) lets his son Matt (Ben Foster) borrow his Geo to go "shoot a girl." The shooting, however, is only done with a squirt gun and would be harmless enough if not for Matt's interruption of an assassination of the girl's father.

In a wickedly creative set-up, two hitmen are at the girl's house at the exact same moment as Matt, setting their sights on Arthur Herk (Stanley Tucci), a powerful Miami businessman. When Matt bursts in with his squirt gun, the family panics, the hitmen miss their mark and the comedy commences.

Police are called to Herk's home, Herk panics and later buys a bomb from Russian bar owners to retalliate, thieves interrupt Herk's purchase, take him hostage, and return to his home, where Matt and his dad happen to be the night after the squirt gun incident. If this sounds insane, it is and deliberately so. We are introduced to each character, watch them as they pursue their separate goals and then sit back and laugh as each intersect with the others in one crazy night.

The night is so crazy that, near the end, anything seems possible. In one scene, we watch the hitmen sit in their car, disgruntled at their failure, as they listen to Miami talk radio hosts obsess over the Florida Gators football team. The assassins are sickened by what they hear, turn off the radio, and sit in silence staring ahead at the unending traffic jam. Suddenly, a goat walks by the side of the car. No one flinches or moves, and their lack of recognition to such an unusual sight is comical. The theme seems to be: "it's been one of those days."

And indeed, that seems to be the theme of the entire film. Scenes of a frog eating a dog's food and then squirting hallucinogenics in the dog's eyes, Herk obsessing over sucking the toes of his live-in help and, of course, the goats are a perfectly illogical mix. In a movie comprised of randomness, these sights seem…appropriate. random

What does hurt the film is a lack of serious character development. "Big Trouble" is so deadest on being absurd and making us laugh with eccentric character tendencies that it fails to really make us care about what happens to these people we're laughing at. Around the 90-minute mark, when the film finally slows down, it is obviously time for the ride to end. An ill-advised realistic conclusion seems dramatically out of place.

"Big Trouble" is an entertaining ride with a terrific ensemble cast. Its weakness lies in depth. There is nothing beyond its absurd story. I imagine almost all humor will fade with a second viewing.

While some films avoid realism, "Big Trouble" may have benefited from making its wacky characters just a little more real.

3 STARS

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