ROB DA BANK : Daywalt & Schneider’s ‘Stark Raving Mad’ (2002) [6/10]

With Dukes of Hazzard giving Seann William Scott's career a much-needed leg-up, it's easy to forget that this appealingly talented comic actor endured a rocky patch just a couple of years back when Bulletproof Monk and American Wedding misfired, while his cameos in Old School and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back fell flat. It was around this time that Stark Raving Mad, a lowish-budget heist farce which he had to "carry" as solo top-billed star for the first (and, so far, only time) suffered the ignominy of becoming a US "video premiere". It didn't fare much better elsewhere, obtaining the briefest of cinema releases in Britain, and generally flying under the radar into Blockbuster-shelf obscurity.

As a video or DVD rental, however, Stark Raving Mad works just fine – provided your evening's viewing is accompanied by a few beers and perhaps a Chinese takeaway… of garlic chicken. Flashily directed and edited without going overboard on the visual side, the picture makes no bones about ripping off the likes of Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino and company: perhaps appropriate, as the plot revolves around a daringly-planned, chaotically-executed bank-job. Closer in tone and scale to, say, Welcome to Collinwood than, say, Ocean's Eleven, Stark Raving Mad – set over the course of one chaotic night (and early morning) in the Chinatown of an unnamed North American city (as with the majority of what calls 'runaway productions', filming took place in Vancouver) – is an unapologetically daft and breezy romp which is enjoyable and disposable in roughly equal measure, though audiences over 40 should perhaps seek alternative entertainment.

The dopey storyline sees charismatic young hood Ben (Scott) taking over a nightclub to stage a rave-type DJ event, which (for technological reasons too silly to relate) will allow him to penetrate the bank vault next door which contains a mystical statue. This McGuffin is then to be delivered to gangland kingpin Mr Gregory (Lou Diamond Phillips, his tailoring and hairstyle prefiguring Tom Cruise in Collateral), as payment for an outstanding family debt. Complications rapidly ensue, and rapidly escalate – though the too-cool-for-school Ben seems to have everything under control…

Clearly aimed at a youthful 'demographic', Stark Raving Mad  bears the tagline 'They've got the DJ, the club, the big amp, the plans to the bank and the plastic explosives. It's party time.' The DJ in question is a typically ludicrous, scantily-clad bozo sporting Viking-horn headphones simply named 'DJ' in the credits, and played by one Jody Racicot – which may disappoint fans of 'rave' music attracted by 'SOUNDTRACK BY DJ JOHN DIGWEED' in big capital letters on the DVD box. In rather smaller type we find 'Warning: contains scenes using strobe lighting effects' – ironic, given that one of the many silly plot-pivots involves Ben's explosives expert (Patrick Breen as Jeffrey) suffering an epileptic seizure as a result of exposure to the nightclub's strobes.

In this kind of picture the audience traditionally expects all kind of quirky characters in the supporting cast, but Stark Raving Mad doesn't quite deliver on this front: while Scott has fun with a character who's slightly darker, sharper and edgier than his usual frat-doofus screen persona, Timm Sharp is colourless as his chief partner-in-crime – the latter being given an unfortunately large amount of screen-time. Paul Hungerford fares rather better with more limited resources as Scott, a Chinese-takeaway deliverer who becomes a happy spectator to the felony and then an even more willing accomplice. Hence the garlic chicken.

Neil Young
23rd December, 2005

STARK RAVING MAD : [6/10] : USA 2005 : Drew DAYWALT & David SCHNEIDER : 101 mins (approx)
seen on DVD at home in Sunderland (UK), 22nd December 2005