lparticles

Lake Placid Articles and Reviews

"Lake Placid"

opens July 16th

Starring Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda and Oliver Platt rated R for language & mild gore 75 minutes

What's sure to be one of the most pleasant surprises this summer is a little horror/suspense movie titled Lake Placid. From the brain of David Kelley, who's the scribe behind TV's Ally McBeal, is a movie that shocks with it's biting humor and creative twists. It's much less a horror movie than it is a goofy summer ride. Fortunately for us, Lake Placid never tries to take itself too seriously. It has the cynicism needed to make what could have been another sloppy monster movie into a really fun summer escape. This is what The Mummy could have been.

Bill Pullman stars as a wildlife game hunter who's called to Maine when a diver is mysteriously chomped in half. Along with a nature hating scientist (played gleefully by Bridget Fonda), a brainless sheriff and a professor (Platt), they set out to discover the monster beneath the calm surface of the lake. What they find...is one huge crocodile. Lake Placid is laced with a sort of back country sarcasm that's just right for the light spirited tone of the film. Each character, namely Platt's and the sheriff, bicker with the greatest of ease. No one's above insulting the next person, and it makes for a hilarious ride.

The film is paced well, and at 75 minutes, it doesn't waste any time getting into the thick of things. There's enough wit in these characters to fill two comedies. But this is a monster movie, right? Once the croc is revealed, he hassles our heroes in every way possible. In between the jokes and the crocodile are actually some good scenes of tension. As for the croc himself, he seems to have escaped from the set of Arnold's Eraser. He's an artificial gift given to us courtesy of computer effects, and he looks completely fake. But it's all in good fun, and this movie won't let you forget that. Mixed in with some tense scenes, Lake Placid will do for lakes what Jaws did for going in the ocean. It's a lake well worth visiting.

Grade: A -

David E. Kelley's first major feature hits some bumps but serves up one hell of a croc.
By Andrew O'Hehir

July 16, 1999 | Writer/producer David E. Kelley specializes in snappy,urbane comedy-drama, driven largely by quirky characterization. So, naturally enough, his first major feature film is a monster movie set in a remote rural location. As that suggests, "Lake Placid" is a brave effort but often a pretty awkward one, blending small-screen technique and big-screen spectacle. In its desperately uneven early scenes, it features some cringe-inducing dialogue, a tired city slicker vs. country rubes setup and superficial, TV-style acting. I mean, maybe there are paleontologists with the petulant, girly demeanor of Bridget Fonda, or Maine fish-and-game wardens with the suave good looks and deadpan manner of Bill Pullman, but both actors fail to make their professions even the least bit convincing. Then there's the matter of hooking them up at a remote lake where a foulmouthed widow has been secretly nurturing a 30-foot killer crocodile.

But as irritating as "Lake Placid" sometimes is, it also has an easygoing sense of fun, along with one of the more memorable movie monsters of recent years. As its story becomes increasingly outrageous, the film never takes itself too seriously or tries to teach any ponderous lessons. When Kelley's fast-paced comic zingers finally build to critical mass, the ensemble cast starts to enjoy itself and the mismatched ingredients blend into a blissfully, stupidly surreal summer cocktail.

Kelley, of course, is the reigning genius of "quality" prime-time TV, and should clearly be viewed as the auteur behind "Lake Placid." Director Steve Miner, a capable genre veteran whose credits include "Halloween: H20" and two "Friday the 13th" films, is strictly a hired hand here. I have mixed feelings about Kelley's work. Officially, I admire "The Practice"; am horrified by the gruesome gender stereotyping of "Ally McBeal"; and check in and out of "Chicago Hope"; In truth, whether you love it or hate it, "Ally," with its distinctive mixture of screwball humor, New Age relationship wisdom and treacly idealism, is Kelley's signature accomplishment.

There are definitely moments in "Lake Placid" when the film feels like one of Ally McBeal's overblown Freudian daydreams, rendered in grotesque detail. Kelly Scott (Fonda) is almost as skinny and skittish as the eponymous single lawyer is, and she's supposed to be a hardcore Manhattanite who's never camped and has a phobia of ticks. When Fonda reads lines like "That's the second time I've been hit with a severed head -- it upsets me," it's hard not to imagine Ally in her I'm-trying-to-cope mode, hands raised before her to demarcate her personal space.

Kelly's reasons for being in Maine are certainly Ally-like: Her boss, who's also her lover (a cameo by "Chicago Hope" star Adam Arkin), dumps her for another co-worker and then conveniently ships her off to the Maine backwoods, ostensibly to investigate a mysterious reptilian tooth found in a dead scuba diver. (No, this isn't set in the well-known Adirondack resort of Lake Placid, N.Y., and the film's body of water is actually called Black Lake -- go figure.) Prissy Kelly collides with laconic warden Jack Wells (Pullman) and lunkhead sheriff Hank Keough (the fine Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, largely wasted here), neither of whom believe there's a crocodile in the lake or
want this city girl prying into their business.

The routine stranger-in-town comedy of these early scenes grinds along tediously until the trio actually heads out to Black Lake to meet the
Bickermans, the lakefront's only full-time residents. Mr. Bickerman has disappeared, and it seems that his wife, Delores (Betty White), may know a bit more about the area's wildlife than she lets on at first. White's heyday as the lascivious Sue Ann on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was a long time ago, but she remains one of those comedians who can make one basic shtick -- in her case, that she's a hard-ass bitch in Suzy Homemaker drag -- permanently hilarious. She's tailor-made for Kelley's dialogue: "Here's where if I had a dick I'd tell you to suck it," Delores cheerily beams at the sheriff.

At this point, no one but Delores understands what's really going on in Black Lake, but word that something big may be living in its dark waters has started to spread. Next on the scene, and finally pushing the proceedings into rococo farce, is millionaire mythologist Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt), who travels the globe armed with helicopters and tons of high-tech gear in order to swim with crocodiles, which he considers divine beings. Jack tells him to leave, but Hector snorts derisively: "I'm a civilian, not a trout -- you have no authority over me whatsoever." Hector is a ludicrous character, but that's really the point, and the always-enjoyable Platt (seen most recently in "Bulworth" and "Doctor Dolittle") plays him to the hilt like a low-rent Zorba the Greek, full of bombast, pretension and a love of life that may be almost genuine. His
comic-combative relationship with Sheriff Keough is about as sophisticated as a Three Stooges routine, but it leads to some of the movie's most inspired silliness.

All the bickering and pratfalling loosens up "Lake Placid" tremendously -- the alleged sexual tension between Kelly and Jack starts to seem vaguely plausible, and in short order the enormous croc comes roaring out of the lake to kick the plot into high gear. Oddly, the movie's sometimes oafish humor doesn't destroy the claustrophobic atmosphere of the remote setting (captured very convincingly at an artificial lake constructed by the filmmakers in British Columbia), or the effect of the fearsome beast. Miner has directed enough horror films to understand the importance of making the audience wait and then setting up a grand entrance for your monster, and for all the spoofish
qualities of "Lake Placid," it delivers an impressive and terrifying behemoth. In fact, this is one of the finest creatures of designer Stan Winston's illustrious monster-making career, and I don't think it's an accident that most of the crocodile scenes were done with full-size animatronic models rather than computer graphics. Here's today's lesson for aspiring geek filmmakers: If you want a really scary movie monster, then, dammit, turn off that Macintosh, head out to the garage and build one.

By the time we get to the final human-crocodile confrontation, the movie still hasn't offered any explanation of how a warm-water reptile grew to gargantuan size in a cold-water lake. But as Delores suggests, the croc didn't start ripping the bumpers off trucks or downing helicopters until humans showed up to harass it -- what gives us the right to decide it should be killed? Kelley's resolution of that ecological dilemma isn't completely satisfying to either human or crocodile, and I suspect "Lake Placid" may not completely satisfy either "Ally McBeal" fans or horror aficionados. Still, he gets full marks for ambition (even if the John Sayles-scripted "Alligator" accomplished a
similar generic meld in 1980), as well as for believing that a lightweight summer film completely devoid of teenagers can find an audience.

salon.com | July 16, 1999

Fox and Crocs Rock at GATORLAND for ``LAKE PLACID'' Movie Premiere

ORLANDO, Fla.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--June 22, 1999--A group of ancient predators will be the special guests of honor when Twentieth Century Fox and Florida theme park GATORLAND host a gala Hollywood-style ``Crocodilian'' premiere on behalf of Fox's upcoming film ``LAKE PLACID.''

The first-of-its-kind event will be held Friday, June 25 at Orlando's GATORLAND, which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary as one of Florida's most popular tourist attractions.

In addition to ``LAKE PLACID'' star Bridget Fonda and filmmakers, the event will be attended by very special non-human guests. Crocodile and alligator VIPs will, like their two-legged counterparts, partake in all the accouterments of a gala premiere, including limousine arrivals, klieg lights, red carpet and cheering fans.

While watching ``LAKE PLACID'' from a comfortable spot in GATORLAND's open-air Gator Wrestling Stadium, the crocodiles and alligators will enjoy a buffet of specially prepared concessions, including popcorn buckets full of raw meat, ``finger'' sandwiches and ``fishermen'' stew.

A party for the non-armored-skin guests will precede the screening, featuring special demonstrations and safety tips for mingling with the guests of honor.

All attendees should find something to bite into with ``LAKE PLACID.'' In the comedic thriller from writer-producer David E. Kelley (``Ally McBeal,'' ``The Practice'') and director Steve Miner (``Halloween: H2O''), a nature-phobic scientist (Bridget Fonda), a Fish & Game Warden (Bill Pullman), a sheriff (Brendan Gleeson), an eccentric mythology professor (Oliver Platt), and an irascible, foul-mouthed local woman (Betty White) converge near a remote lake in Maine to investigate a gruesome fatality.

Their adventure, laced with humor and terror, leads to a shocking secret that waits underneath the anything-but-placid waters.

Twentieth Century Fox is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group. GATORLAND, the Alligator Capital of the World, is located at 14501 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, Fla. 32837, 800/393-JAWS or www.gatorland.com.

Contact:

Twentieth Century Fox

Jan Craft, 310/369-1877 (Los Angeles)

Jackie Sigmund, 212/556-8614 (New York)

Linda Crane, 404/256-7670 (Atlanta)

FILM REVIEW

'Lake Placid': He's Imagining How Well You'd Fit Beneath His Skin

By JANET MASLIN

[D] espite the DOA nature of the genre it the satirizes, the demon crocodile movie "Lake Placid" finds a good deal to work with in newly reptile-plagued Maine. As written by David E. Kelley with tongue firmly in cheek,it provides a good cast with the challenge of keeping straight faces.

So Bridget Fonda plays the tick-hating paleontologist who is sent from a New York museum to investigate a strange, recently discovered artifact. ("You want me to go to Maine to look at a tooth?") And the splendid Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, star of "The General," affects the accent to play the local sheriff who greets her.

"They wanted to call it Lake Placid," he says, while giving her a tour, "but somebody said that name was taken." Well, no matter. This is a movie that begins with a swimmer suddenly savaged by an underwater monster(while the sheriff eats a Twinkie), and "Jaws" was taken, too.

The tooth turns out to be prehistoric. ("Evidently it's nothing," some sage decides.) Still, on the chance that it may lead to a 30-foot-long, tail-snapping brute designed by Stan Winston, a group of usual suspects gathers at the lake.

Bill Pullman is on hand as the obligatory stern local hunk. And Oliver Platt turns up as the wisecracking eccentric mythology professor, of whom it is said reverently: "He also treks the world to -- to swim with crocodiles."

While making his flamboyant entrance, his character looks at Ms. Fonda and exclaims,"Oh, the earth is round, and so should you be!" Later on he manages to bring up Ancient Melanesia while discussing crocodile lore.

The dialogue can be delicious. (Pullman: "Any recent bear attacks?" Gleeson: "This was no bear. Bears don't attack people underwater.") And the horror effects can be divinely cheesy, like the presumed underwater sprinkler hose whose churning effect is described as "scared perch."

Trouble is, while not trading quips, the characters actually go through the motions of being scared of the croc, menaced by the croc and so on. And since even the gator horror satire is old hat (remember "Alligator?"), there’s no remaining way to make this interesting. It doesn't help that the director, Steve Miner, makes murky underwater shots in the Maine lake suggest the New York City sewer system.

There's some moderate gore here, most of it jokey. ("Is this the man who was killed?"Platt asks, wielding a severed toe. Gleeson replies, "He looked taller.") And there's also Betty White on hand to play the crocodile's best human friend. Her character's foul-mouthed dialogue is funny for its incongruity, less so for its real purpose.

"Lake Placid" could easily have been made as a PG-13 movie, or perhaps even a PG. But the better to tempt teen-age audiences, it talks it’s way into an R.

TNT Review: http://www.roughcut.com

THE UGLY: I've been off on my rampage about publicity vs. truth vs. the 'Net and whatever, but this is really ugly. For months, I've been getting e-mail writing off Lake Placid, Fox's upcoming crocodile movie. So when I got the call from Fox's bouncing bundle of publicity joy, Jan Craft, to come to a barbecue and screening, I knew they were all right. This movie must suck. They are buttering us up with burgers and beer. So I went to the Fox lot and chatted with a number of the journalistically inclined about how they didn't really want to see this movie, but a free burger is a free burger. We ate some croc meat (fishy and salty and chewy). And we relaxed. And when we walked into the screening room, we were relaxed, like a summer movie audience going to see a big dumb movie should be. And lo and behold, the laughter started. And the croc showed up and people jumped. And Bridget Fonda was in a perfect role for her. And Bill Pullman got to smirk and not be overly heroic. And Brendan Gleeson, who looks like he wants to take on the world is forced to take insult after insult, getting laughter with his deadpan reaction. And when Oliver Platt shows up to chew the scenery, he almost outdoes the croc. And then you add Betty White in a laugh-out-loud cameo. And damn it! I'm really enjoying this movie. It's this year's Anaconda, only you spend as much time laughing as you do screaming. And you don't have some morbid romance where you have to watch Eric Stoltz being woozy and heroic when we all know that he only wants Jennifer Lopez for that booty. Instead we get Oliver Platt fawning over Meredith Salenger's prodigious bust line without fear of the PC Police. We get cow stunts that with make PETA members faint. (You'll feel better if you just have a hamburger, gang!) Lake Placid is a true summer confection. The kind that people go see over and over because it's short, fun and light. If Fox can market it right, not as a pure horror film, but as a horrific comedy, it will be one of this summer's special sleepers, along with American Pie, The Iron Giant and maybe, Bowfinger. So how is that "ugly?"

Well no one wants to feel like they've been played by a marketing department. But Fox did to us what needed to be done. They got us out of our "another screening/where's my cell phone/that actress is such a bitch" mindset for long enough that we could actually see the movie and not start judging it before it began. No one sold the movie hard or told anyone what to think. They just manipulated us into being David Banners instead of Incredible Hulks for a few hours. And I thank them for that. Every studio should be so creative in selling their smallest movie of the season.

Home | Film | Lake Placid Main