BIASES: mid 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

Missed a review? Support those that support THE REEL DEAL - check out all reviews at HBCUnetwork.com!

OSMOSIS JONES

MOVIE BIASES: Chris Rock as a white blood cell? Laurence Fishburne as a virus? I am curiously presoldŠ
MAJOR PLAYERS: Chris Rock (Down to Earth), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), David Hyde Pierce (TV's "Frasier"), Bill Murray (Rushmore), and directors Bobby & Peter Farrelly (Say It Isn't So).

The times when Hollywood comes up with a fairly original idea are few and far between. So it saddens me when they come up with a wonderfully original idea and then mess up the timing of it, the date of its arrival. Buried under the blockbusters of summer, this clever, funny, and edu-taining movie may be so original and non-summery, it may miss out on the audience it truly deserves.

Osmosis Jones (Rock) is a headstrong white blood cell cop inside the City of Frank, the body of a guy named Frank (Murray). As we see in live action, Frank is a widower with a little girl, a guy so sad he is ostensibly eating himself to death. With his absurdly gross eating habits, Frank catches a virus, that we see on the animated inside of his body is called Thrax (Fishburne): "Careful. I'm contagious." Thrax sets about a sneak attack on Frank's immune system while the City of Frank's mayor (William Shatner) is distracted by running for re-election. The only ones onto Thrax's plan for total immunodeficiency are Osmosis and his outsider cop specialist, a cherry flavored, 12 hour time released cold tablet from the University of Chicago named Drix(enol). Together they try to fight off Thrax before his evil plan to kill Frank comes to fruition.

If it all sounds crazy, it is - crazy fun. As Osmosis, a cell with hip hop flair, Chris Rock gets a chance to do his funny thing unobstructed by the bounds of reality, cracking all kinds of body related jokes in the process. David Hyde Pierce is straight from Central Casting as the fussy, superheroic cold pill who struggles against his labeling to fit in with the maverick style of Osmosis. Laurence Fishburne, as the badass virus Thrax, clearly is having the most fun of his career with his sneering, entirely evil-without-redemption vocals. And Brandy (TV's "Moesha") is surprisingly effective (maybe it's because we don't have to see her act) as the micro-miniskirted aide to the mayor Leah, whom Osmosis has a great big crush on. The chemistry between their characters is pretty amusing to watch. After Leah ogles Drix's imposing size, Osmosis says, "Ninety-nine percent of him is sugar." Leah's retort: "You're ninety-nine percent stupid." Osmosis: "You know the cells line up to divide with me." Leah: "You're the type of cell who mostly divides by himself."

And let's give props where props are due - Marc Hyman's script is phenomenonal. Not only is it funny and amusing with the way he has shoehorned our world into the context of the body, but also for providing us with an outstanding physiology lesson. The bodily jokes come fast and furious, but you would probably need a high school biology course to catch them all. Little things like a mafia of cells in the sweat glands of the armpit, a flu shot cell turned informant hidden in the "Virus Protection Program," and signs that say stuff like "No cilia, no cytoplasm, no service," make this film a helluva lot smarter than it needs to be. This movie is so clever and smart, it's too smart for it's own good. It doesn't deserve to be lumped in the same season of dinosaurs, tomb raiders, and lame buddy cop flicks.

Throw in the Farrellys' remarkably toned down (for them) direction of gross out humor and the world below our epidermis (look for sight gags like "Kidney Rock" performing a concert, Frank Online for a cellular Internet, and an amusing homage to the Titanic band) and this movie is definitely headed for the DVD collection. It takes repeat viewing to catch all the bodily function and cellular world jokes (Nerve News Network air features like "Nose in Crisis" and live aerial footage of a high speed chase between Osmosis and Thrax, in progress). The only time the movie slows down is when it gets out of the body, even though we need Frank's interactions in the real world for it all to make sense. In addition to being an enjoyable animated/buddy cop/action adventure, "Osmosis Jones" simultaneously makes you more aware of the treatment of your body. I just hope this movie finds an audience in this crowded summer, as sequelization could be endless (Osmosis fights measles, the flu, or, gasp! HIV). "Now that's inflammation relief."

@@@ REELS
(THREE REELS)
It's pretty hot - go give it a shot.

Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out
his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at
ReelReviewz@aol.com!

© 2001, THE REEL DEAL