BY LEE PFEIFFER
In the 1997 comedy "Gone Fishin", Joe Pesci and Danny Glover were reunited on screen following their appearances in two sequels to "Lethal Weapon" (they would appear in a third sequel the following year.) Disney had high hopes for the family comedy but production problems plagued the film from the beginning. The original director, Oscar winner John G. Avildsen filmed for the first two weeks before he was fired by the studio and replaced by Christopher Cain. The script had been kicking around for quite some time as Disney approached various other actors to top-line before settling on Pesci and Glover. During production, a stunt went awry and resulted in the death of stuntwoman Janet Wilder as well as injuries to her team members, husband Scott and father-in-law Glenn. Disney then shelved the finished production for almost a year before transferring distribution to their Hollywood Pictures branch. The film had gone significantly over budget, coming in at at astounding $53 million- a significant sum in those days for a modest comedy. (In comparison, the budget for the action blockbuster "GoldenEye", filmed only a year before "Gone Fishin'", was $60 million.)
The story centers on two life-long friends, Newark, New Jersey natives Joe Waters (Pesci) and Gus Green (Glover) who are good-natured but dim-witted family men who are still trying to live down a boyhood act of carelessness when the dispensing of a single cigar ignited a nearby chemical plant. Every year, the hard-working blue collar guys look forward to their annual fishing trip. This year, they intend to travel from New Jersey to southern Florida where they can take in the sights of the Everglades. Things get off to a rocky start when a charismatic con-man and wanted murderer, Dekker Massey (Nick Bramble) steals Joe's beloved relic of a car, leaving them stranded with their boat, which they begin to push down the highway. They are rescued by two young women (Rosanna Arquette and Lynn Whitfield, both under-used in the film), who coincidentally are pursuing Massey for swindling them. However, once Joe and Gus part company with the ladies, more misadventures follow until they are captured and threatened with death by Massey. They narrowly escape and the film climaxes with an elaborate chase involving air boats, cars and a helicopter.
"Gone Fishin'" is comedy distinguished only by the fact that it isn't even slightly funny. A film that is filled with sight gags requires a director with a light touch, but Christopher Cain only provides a lead foot. If a director of a slapstick comedy can't derive laughs from two idiots trapped in a cave with a menacing alligator, you've got a real problem. In fairness, one can sympathize with his plight. It is never ideal to be a director who is employed because a colleague was fired and there is no worse environment than a film set on which an accidental death has occurred. The real culprits are screenwriters Jill Mazursky Cody and J. J. Abrams (yes, that J.J. Abrams), who dreamed up a relentlessly unfunny, far-fetched scenario. Even the chemistry between Pesci and Glover is compromised by their character's annoying habit of constantly addressing each other by name. Virtually every sentence they speak to each other includes the monotonous repetition of hearing them use each other's first name. Glover supposedly confessed to doing the film simply for a quick paycheck. It isn't known what Pesci thought of the end result but let's just say he went into self-imposed retirement and made only a few more film appearances for the next two decades before thankfully reemerging with his superb performance in "The Irishman". "Gone Fishin'" does have some impressive chase scenes in the Everglades but by then the damage is done. The film's entire gross never reached $20 million, making it a legitimate boxoffice bomb. Not helping matters was the fact that critics were unrestrained in their condemnation of the movie. If a fish rots from the head down, so does this movie about fishing, populated by notable people who should have known better. Fortunately, most of them did enough fine work that the movie didn't damage their careers, though it's doubtful that current day icon J.J. Abrams wants this high on the list of career accomplishments.
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray transfer looks great but whether you will ever be inspired to sample it depends on your penchant for indulging in masochism. The release contains the original trailer and trailers for other comedies.
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