Excess Baggage . Tucson Weekly . 09-22-97

Excess Baggage

DIRECTED BY: Marco Brambilla

REVIEWED: 09-22-97

Alicia Silverstone plays an irascible rich girl who stages her own kidnapping to get attention from daddy; Benicio Del Toro plays a hapless thief who complicates the plan by stealing Alicia's car while she's tied up in the trunk. It's an inspired premise for a romantic comedy, but the rest of the movie feels as lackadaisical as an afternoon at a truck stop. Del Toro does an interesting sleepy-eyed Brando shtick, and the roadside Pacific Northwest locations have a misty charm, but it seems like somebody squeezed all the juice out of the plot and dialogue. Nothing much happens, and even the love story seems half-hearted. One minute the spoiled Silverstone is kicking Del Toro, the next she's asking him if he likes her tummy, and all it takes is a "Yes" for bam--true love. Say what? Time for the screenwriters to take It Happened One Night 101 again. Edgy supporting performances from Harry Connick Jr. and Christopher Walken don't hurt, but they're nothing we haven't seen before.

--Woodruff

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