Subject: REVIEW: SPACE JAM (1996)

From: [email-masked] (James Berardinelli)
Date: 19 Nov 1996 19:24:49 GMT

SPACE JAM
                       A film review by James Berardinelli
                        Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli

RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0
Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****

United States, 1996
U.S. Release Date: 11/15/96 (wide)
Running Length: 1:30
MPAA Classification: PG (Cartoon violence)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast: Michael Jordan, Bugs Bunny, Wayne Knight, Bill Murray, 
      Theresa Randle, voice of Danny DeVito, Lola Bunny, Daffy Duck, 
      Wylie Coyote, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley 
Director: Joe Pytka
Producers: Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, Daniel Goldberg
Screenplay: Leo Benvenuit & Steve Rudnick and Timothy Harris & 
      Herschel Weingrod
Cinematography: Michael Chapman
Music: James Newton Howard
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers 

     Joe Pytka is known best as a TV commercial director.  He's the man 
behind the "Thank you for your support" Bartles & James ads, the "Bo 
knows" Nike ads, and the Ray Charles "Uh huh" Diet Pepsi ads.  In fact, 
according to his bio, he has directed some 5000 commercials.  With SPACE 
JAM, his second feature film, make that 5001.  This movie, which could 
just as easily be called THE MICHAEL JORDAN WORSHIP SHOW, plays like a 
90-minute homage to His Airness, selling his every virtue.  By the end 
of this picture, Jordan, whose status as a pop icon has never been in 
dispute, has been elevated to the level of a demi-god.  

     It was inevitable that Jordan would eventually get into the movies.  
After all, Shaquille O'Neal has already made the move, and Jordan has 
more charisma and presence both on and off the court.  The decision to 
have him play himself is the right choice, since Jordan's acting range 
seems to be on par with that of Steven Seagal.  SPACE JAM's problem 
isn't that Jordan is the star, but that the tone is sickeningly 
reverential.  There are only a few times when SPACE JAM dares to poke 
fun at its leading man, and, on those occasions, it does so gently. 
Opportunities for satire exist, but Pytka pulls nearly every punch.  The 
bland results lead to a movie whose entertainment value is fine for 
kids, but marginal for adults.

     On the other hand, any movie that features the delightful Looney 
Tunes characters can't be all bad, and, indeed, the writing for Bugs 
Bunny and friends is as crisp as ever (except when they're bowing and 
genuflecting before His Airness).  Just about everyone from the Warner 
Brothers cartoon world is there, from Bugs and Daffy to Foghorn Leghorn 
and Marvin the Martian.  There's even a new character, Lola Bunny, who 
gives Bugs a love interest and adds a little sex appeal to the otherwise 
all-male cartoon character roster.  Road Runner and Wylie Coyote are on 
hand as well, the latter chasing the former.  I wish there had been more 
of these two -- they were always the funniest the Looney Tunes had to 
offer.

     The story, which would like to follow in the footsteps of the 
groundbreaking WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, mixes live-action and 
animation.  Technically, the film isn't quite up to ROGER RABBIT's 
standards, but it's a huge improvement over Ralph Bakshi's COOL WORLD, 
which mingled Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt with a bunch of sleazy cartoon 
creations.  Certainly, from a visual standpoint, there's nothing wrong 
with SPACE JAM.  In fact, a few sequences are positively dazzling.  

     SPACE JAM is about a big-time basketball game between the Looney 
Tunes team and the Monstars, a group of aliens under the lead of the 
evil Swackhammar (voice of Danny DeVito) who have stolen the powers of 
NBA stars Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Muggsey Bogues, Larry Johnson, 
and Shawn Bradley.  In order to stand a chance against this seemingly-
invincible team, Bugs summons Michael Jordan to Looney Tunes land and 
explains that if the good guys lose, they'll be taken back to the 
Monstars' home planet as slaves.  Jordan, who has been playing baseball 
on Earth, agrees to help, although he wonders how rusty his basketball 
skills are.  He is soon put to the test as the contest begins.

     There are a number of exceptionally clever moments in SPACE JAM, 
some of which are visual and some of which lie in the dialogue.  Several 
of these pass quickly or occur in the background, so it takes a keen eye 
to spot them.  A couple of the better, more obvious ones include a nod 
to PULP FICTION and a biting dig at Disney.  Bugs, in response to 
Daffy's suggestion that they name their basketball team after his 
species, quips:  "What kind of Mickey Mouse organization would name 
their team the Ducks?"

     Bill Murray, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and a host of real-life 
sports figures have cameo appearances.  Aside from Jordan, the only 
human with any significant screen time is Wayne Knight, who plays an 
irritating baseball publicist.  Strangely, however, amidst all the two-
dimensional cartoon characters, the flattest figure of all is Jordan.  
The basketball star's power might be the drawing card for SPACE JAM, but 
the Looney Tunes group steals the spotlight -- at least as often as 
Pytka will let them.

- James Berardinelli
e-mail: [email-masked]
ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin