'Osmosis Jones' serves gross-out entertainment
Julien R. Fielding
Marc Hyman always wanted to write a movie about microscopic organisms. The interplay between these tiny creatures and the real world seemed perfect for film, the writer said recently.
Producers and directors agreed.
The result is "Osmosis Jones," an entertaining and surprisingly educational film that's part live action and part animation; part gross-out Bobby and Peter Farrelly effort and part twist-on-the-buddy cop genre as conceived by animation directors Piet Kroon and Tom Sito.
Inhabiting the outer world is Frank Detorri (Bill Murray), a human health disaster. He frequently consumes KFC, Twinkies, candy, hamburgers and beer as if they were the basic food groups. He never exercises and refrains from even the most basic hygiene. His young daughter Shane (Elena Franklin) tries to get him to change, but it's no use.
This man truly has no idea how disgusting he is.
Case in point, when Shane and Frank are sharing a lunch at the zoo, Frank's place of employment, her father gets ready to eat a hardboiled egg topped with mayonnaise and copious amounts of salt. Then he drops it. A chimpanzee picks it up puts it in his mouth. A struggle ensues and the egg pops back out. Following the 10-second rule, "If food hits the floor and you pick it up within 10 seconds, you can eat it," Frank devours the egg.
Once the snack enters the City of Frank gateway, a fleet of saliva boats must work overtime to clean up the bacterial after effects.
Unfortunately, few realize that something more than albumin came in with this meal. It also brought in Thrax (Laurence Fishburne), a horrendous virus intent on eradicating Frank within 48 hours.
Working to stop the virus' plans, and going against Mayor Phlegmming's (William Shatner) directives, is Osmosis Jones, an anti-social white blood cell and an officer on the FrankPD.
But, Jones doesn't get to work alone on this case. He gets a partner in the guise of a 12-hour cold tablet, Drixobenzo Methapherdramine (David Hyde Pierce) to be precise. Together they crisscross the body, from Cerebellum Hall to the bladder, where the S.S. Kidney Stone prepares for departure, hunting down the nefarious toxin.
In a summer of sequels and remakes, "Osmosis Jones" offers something refreshingly original. It feels like a Farrelly brothers movie but with a lighter, less sophomoric touch.
Sure it's gross. It takes place in the human body after all, but it's also quite clever and inventive.
Hyman creates a microscopic world that mirrors our own, with re-election-motivated politicians, Godfather type crime bosses, tough by-the-book police chiefs, femme fatales and street gangsters who bet on chicken pox fights.
This writer knows human physiology well enough so he can tweak it for comic effect. For instance, an officer says he wants to go to the Kidneys for a holiday getaway and to take in a performance by the Stones while he's there. The other replies, "Better see them soon; they're sure to pass at any time." Groan. Some of it is so bad, it's funny.
Making this material work well is a talented group of comedians. Murray has a knack at this sort of whiny and pathetic, yet likable character. And, surely, getting him for this picture must have made the Farrelly's dance a jig for weeks. This is, after all, the actor who not only let himself be covered in slime ("Ghostbusters") but who also engaged in what we thought was coprophagy ("Caddyshack"). He relishes the chance to turn an audience's stomach.
Molly Shannon stars as Mrs. Boyd, Shane's science and physical education teacher. Although only on screen for a few minutes, she leaves an impression with her crazed, over-the-top laugh.
As a child actor, Franklin seems very natural and gets to play the film's only "adult." This newcomer has the grace and looks of a young Natalie Portman.
The actors who provide the voices are just as good, if not better.
To create the evil Thrax, Fishburne brings together the urban sensibility of "Shaft," with the style of Dracula and the sly cunning of Moriarty. It's a wonder this actor hasn't done animation before, because his sonorous, expressive voice is perfect. Furthermore, his diverse training as an actor enables him to bring more depth to a two-dimensional image.
For fat brain cell Phlemming, Shatner couples the sleaziness of Nixon with Captain Kirk cadences. He captures the self-serving attitude of a politician with aplomb.
Casting the wiry, sophisticated Hyde Pierce to provide the voice of Dolph Lundgren-physiqued Drix was ingenious. But then this character is an anachronism anyhow. On the outside he's a pharmaceutical Terminator, with bulk and brawn. However, on the inside, he's an Ivy League boy with a Phi Beta Capsule with a Master's in multisymptom relief. This is great stuff.
Although I barely can stand Rock, as an animated character he's almost tolerable. And his skill of improvisation should be commended.
Kroon ("Iron Giant") and former Disney employee Sito distinguish themselves with the animated side of the film, creating a fascinating world that will educate young people about the inner workings of the body in an entertaining way.
In fact, the film almost could be used in a science class, because it clearly demonstrates the consequences of not eating right or taking care of his or her health.
Shock value never hurt anyone.
"Osmosis Jones" is a film that all ages, with strong stomachs, can enjoy.
'Osmosis Jones' serves gross-out entertainment was originally published in The Daily Nonpareil on 9 August, 2001. © Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil LLC
