Larger Than Life (film)
Encyclopedia
Plot
Jack Corcoran is a motivational speakerMotivational speaker
A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...
for the masses in mini-malls and rented halls across the country. Jack's advice is, "if life isn't all that you expected, put aside all those wouldas, couldas and shouldas and Get over it!" Jack's dad (a father he never knew) was a circus clown and just passed on, leaving his son a hefty inheritance: his 8,000 pound trained circus elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
(Tai) named Vera (after Jack's mother), who comes complete with a trunkful of debts. In order to pay off his debts, Jack decides to sell Vera. The bulk of the movie plays on the problem of traveling 2,000 miles in five days with the 8,000 pound elephant. It's a predicament that is "Larger Than Life."
Cast
- Bill MurrayBill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
as Jack Corcoran - Jeremy PivenJeremy PivenJeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
as Walter - Janeane GarofaloJaneane GarofaloJaneane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
as Mo - Pat HinglePat HingleMartin Patterson "Pat" Hingle was an American actor.-Early life:Hingle was born Martin Patterson Hingle in Miami, Florida, the son of Marvin Louise , a schoolteacher and musician, and Clarence Martin Hingle, a building contractor. Hingle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, dropping out of...
as Vernon - Linda FiorentinoLinda FiorentinoLinda Fiorentino is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films Dogma, Vision Quest, Men in Black, After Hours and The Last Seduction.-Personal life:...
as Terry Bonura - Matthew McConaugheyMatthew McConaugheyMatthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
as Tip Tucker - Keith DavidKeith DavidKeith David Williams , better known as Keith David, is an American film, television, voice actor, and singer. He is perhaps most known for his live-action roles in such films as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work...
as Hurst - Tracey WalterTracey WalterTracey Walter is an American character actor. He has appeared in over 100 films and television shows.-Life and career:Walter was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of a truck driver....
as Wee St. Francis - Harve PresnellHarve PresnellHarve Presnell was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid 1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States...
as Trowbridge Bowers
Reviews
Critics generally responded with mixed to negative reviews, garnering a 12% score on Rotten Tomatoes and Stephen Holden of New York Times called the vision of the film a mis-fire: "The very idea conjures up visions of classic sight gags in which man and beast fail to communicate, or worse, fail to get along. Think of elegant circus tricks executed in the wrong place at precisely the wrong time. Think of an elephantine stubbornness that makes the most recalcitrant donkey look like an obedient eager beaver. Think of a rampage in a supermarket or a spontaneous grand entrance at a chi-chi social event, and you can begin to see the possibilities".Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a "D" rating and Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum is an American film critic. She joined Entertainment Weekly as film critic in the 1990s. She has been featured on CNN, co-host on Siskel & Ebert At the Movies as well as a cultural, theater and television reviewer....
wrote poorly of the script and minor characters "is windy, and the occasional laughs are as heavy-footed as the thunking lead pachyderm herself. Furthermore, a couple of its costars are probably wondering what in the Sam Hill they were thinking when they signed on, since they are singularly ill-used."
ReelViews's James Berardinelli awarded the film 2 and a half out of 4 stars. While noting his appreciation of the comedy routines, he was critical of the acting performances: "Murray did his share of ad-libbing here, which is probably a reason why several of the comic sequences work. Since Murray is simply 'being Murray', there isn't a lot of intensive acting going on. As a result, there are long stretches like watching a standup routine shot on location with a very unusual "straight man".
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
awarded the film 1 and a half out of 4 stars and was also critical towards Murray's performance: "the energy isn't there. Murray often chooses to play a laid-back, detached character, but this time he's so detached he's almost absent. He chooses to work in a low key, and the other actors, in matching his energy level, make a movie that drones instead of hums". Yet, Ebert enjoyed the comedy's humor: "Murray's portrait of an inspirational speaker is right on target, and filled out with lots of subtle touches of movement and dialog, and there is humor".
Soundtrack
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Writer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Life Is a Carnival Life Is a Carnival "Life is a Carnival" is a song written by Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Robbie Robertson of Canadian rock group The Band. It is the opening track of their fourth album, Cahoots. The song features horn arrangements by New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint... " |
The Band The Band The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm... |
Robbie Robertson Robbie Robertson Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time... , Rick Danko Rick Danko Richard Clare "Rick" Danko was a Canadian musician and singer, best known as a member of The Band.-Early years :... , Levon Helm Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band.... |
3:55 |
| 2 | "Psycho" | Jack Kittle | Leon Payne Leon Payne Leon Payne , "the Blind Balladeer", was a country music singer and songwriter.-Life:Leon Roger Payne was born in Alba, Texas on June 15, 1917. He was blind in one eye at birth, and lost the sight of the other eye in early childhood. He attended the Texas School for the Blind from 1924 to 1935,... |
3:13 |
| 3 | "Main Title" | Miles Goodman Miles Goodman Miles Goodman was an American musician who composed music for television programs, including Teen Wolf, and many films, notably the toe-tapping tunes from Footloose and the incidental music to Little Shop of Horrors . As a producer, Goodman specialized in light jazz and classics... |
Goodman | 2:28 |
| 4 | "Salad Bar" | Miles Goodman | Goodman | 1:47 |
| 5 | "Dad's Trunck" | Miles Goodman | Goodman | 2:18 |
| 6 | "Flying Elephant" | Miles Goodman | Goodman | 3:31 |
| 7 | "An Elephant Miracle" | Miles Goodman | Goodman | 2:03 |
| 8 | "Airport Chase" | Miles Goodman | Goodman | 2:59 |
| 9 | "Swimming" | Miles Goodman | Goodman | 2:20 |
| 10 | "The Magnificent Seven Theme" | Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions... |
Bernstein | 2:46 |
| 11 | "The Blue Danube The Blue Danube The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 , a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866... " |
Johann Strauss Johann Strauss II Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas... |
Strauss | 3:05 |
Additional songs in the film not on the soundtrack album
- "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" written by Homer BanksHomer BanksHomer Banks was an African-American songwriter, singer and record producer, best known for his songs for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s...
, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson performed by The Staple SingersThe Staple SingersThe Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis... - "Everybody Loves a Train" written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez performed by Los LobosLos LobosLos Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
- "Hermanos Alou" written by Tiesco Del Rey performed by Tiesco Del Rey
- "Home Sweet Honky Tonk" written by Curtis WrightCurtis WrightCurtis Blaine Wright is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1989 with the single "She's Got a Man on her Mind" on a branch of MCA Records, before recording a solo album in 1992 on Liberty Records...
and T. J. Knight performed by Curtis Wright - "Just A Lucky So & So" written by Mack DavidMack DavidMack David was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning from the early 1940s through the early 1970s. Mack was credited with writing lyrics and/or music for over one thousand songs...
and Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
performed by Charles BrownCharles BrownCharlie Brown is the principal character in the comic strip Peanuts.Charlie or Charles Brown may also refer to:-Athletes:* Charlie Brown from Dumfries who played for home town club Queen of the South... - "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" written by Richard HagemanRichard HagemanRichard Hageman was a Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, composer, and actor.- Biography :...
- "We've Only Just Begun" written by Paul WilliamsPaul Williams (songwriter)Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
and Roger NicholsRoger NicholsRoger Scott Nichols was an American seven-time Grammy Award-winning recording engineer and producer.... - "You Made Me Love You" written by Joseph McCarthy and James V. Monaco