Film: Corky Romano (2001)
Director: Rob Pritts
Starring: Chris Kattan, Peter Falk, Chris Penn
Written by: David Garrett, Jason Ward
I’ve come to develop a theory that Chris Kattan is the closest thing the latest generation has come to replicating Don Knotts. This is in no way meant to be an insult. The world needs more spastic, bug-eyed man-children busting out sweet karate moves and tripping over everything in sight!
Kattan carries on this fine cinematic tradition as Corky Romano, the grinning idiot exile son of an ailing mobster who bumbles his way into infiltrating the FBI on his dad’s behalf. His brothers, a rage-filled illiterate and a rage-filled closet case (the latter played by the always wonderful Chris Penn) roundly abuse and belittle their returned sibling to his breaking point. There’s a great moment at the beginning in which Corky moves to shake his reading-impaired brother’s hand and the scholar instead fills his hand with a fart. It’s played very highbrow. Pops Romano, squintily portrayed by Peter Falk, spends most of the film laid up in bed, passively condoning the abuse before a halfhearted good guy turnaround at the end. Of course, there’s a girl in the Bureau, a couple of treacherous bastards on both sides of the law, and everyone improbably gets behind Corky as the story progresses.
The story may be typical, but I think Chris Kattan is hilarious as the false Agent Pissant (pronounced Pees-ahnt, because, you know, it’s French!). He’s clearly game for any ridiculous thing the script asks of him, whether it’s dressing up as a girl scout or a skinhead, badly firing an assault rifle, giving CPR to a dog, or delivering a coked-out speech about crimefighting to a room of kids. Perhaps the film’s best line has Corky suddenly screaming to the kids: “I should buy a boat!”
No offense intended toward the Great Chris Penn, but this film would have been pretty dull without Kattan jittering around at the helm. I really like this man’s work, and I’d like to see a lot more keyed-up awesomeness from him. Make it happen, Hollywood!
Leave a comment
No comments yet.
Y Marks the Spot 
Leave a Reply