Rat Race

Rat Race is a 2001 American comedy film directed and produced by Jerry Zucker with the story being written by Andre Breckman, the film follows seven people trying to win a rat race that is created by an eccentric tycoon creator Donald Sinclair.

Plot
In an ensemble film about easy money, greed, manipulation and bad driving, a Las Vegas casino tycoon entertains his wealthiest high rollers -- a group that will bet on anything -- by pitting six ordinary people against each other in a wild dash for $2 million jammed into a locker hundreds of miles away. The tycoon and his wealthy friends monitor each racer's every move to keep track of their favorites. The only rule in this race is that there are no rules.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The idea of seven contestants trying to win a rat race while facing off bumbling situations is a pretty original plot.
 * 2) The film is extremely funny, filled with very funny moments and very funny characters.
 * 3) John Powell's soundtrack is pretty good and also has three classic songs that fit the scenes very well.
 * 4) * Not to mention, Baha Men's song that was made for the film was pretty good and catchy.
 * 5) The characters (except for Donald Sinclair) are very likeable and extremely funny, with the best being Enrico Pollini, played by Rowan Atkinson.
 * 6) The scenes where Vera reunites with her mother and the part where the characters donate the money to charity are very emotional and sad.
 * 7) The animation in the intro is funnily done and also looks well-made due to being done by Wildbrain animator Julia Tortolani.
 * 8) Most of the acting is pretty decent thanks to having an all-star cast.
 * 9) Pretty funny lines like "Because it's Hitler's harmonica. You can't play Hitler's harmonica." and "I have lost my heart many times before... I make a joke to help you forget how screwed you are."
 * 10) A pretty creepy but funny cameo from Kathy Bates, as a Squirrel lady.
 * 11) The band Smash Mouth makes a pretty good cameo as themselves and also ends the movie with a music that became more well known thanks to an ogre.
 * 12) Satisfying ending where the money the contestants try to get ends up going to the charity with the characters dancing and singing along with the Smash Mouth song "All Star" playing in a concert.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some of the moments look quite disturbing, even for a comedy film, like the scene where Vera and Merrill get trapped on a land full off dead passengers due to the crazy Squirrel lady's help, even worse is that a corpse pops up from another car, which makes the scene even worse.
 * 2) Donald Sinclair is quite an unlikeable character, for example, in the scene where the contestants get confused while he tells them to go, he actually pulls out a gun and shoots to get everyone out.
 * 3) Some of the visual effects may look dated even by 2001 standards, though this is justified since the movie tries to have a bleak 1950s look due to being inspired by an iconic film.

Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a box office success and even gained a cult following, on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "rotten" score of 44% with a critic consensus saying "Rat Race moves from one sight gag to another, but only a handful of them are genuinely funny." While Metacritic, which assigns films out of 100 gave the film 52, indicating "mixed or average reviews." However, audience reception was positive, as the film on Rotten Tomatoes has a score of 64% while the Metacritic score has an 8.5, indicating "universal acclaim".

Box Office
Rat Race was released in both the United States and Canada on August 17, 2001 and grossed USD$11,662,094 in its opening weekend at the North American box office, ranking third behind American Pie 2 and Rush Hour 2. The film ultimately grossed $56.6 million domestically and $28.8 million overseas for a worldwide total of approximately $85.5 million based on a budget of an estimated $48 million, making it commercially successful.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2002 and opened also at number three behind the non comedic The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone For the next two weekends, the film regained the spot, before moving down one place and then four places down before finally ending up on No. 10 on February 10, 2002.

Trivia

 * This film was one of Doug Walker's favorite films.
 * Some of the various trucks used in the monster truck scene were ACTUAL competing trucks.

Videos
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