Now this is a surprise. "Evolution," a movie that traffics in colon and rectum jokes, plugs the periodic table of elements. The grid is printed on the back of a black T-shirt worn by Julianne Moore. Is this the start of an erudite fashion trend? Will Sarah Jessica Parker sport one on "Sex and the City?" Probably not.
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| | | 'Evolution' Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual humor and sci-fi action.
Starring: David Duchovny, Orlando Jones
Director: Ivan Reitman
Critic's Call: 2 stars. | |
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Besides, "Evolution" is no "Ghostbusters," although both were directed by Ivan Reitman. The laughs are periodic and the splashiest effects obviously computer-generated, so you can almost imagine the cast standing in front of the blue screen or being plunked into the desert and told what would be digitally added at a later date.
The strangest thing about "Evolution" is that despite starring Moore, David Duchovny and Orlando Jones, it's a couple of virtual low-level players (as students whose brains don't match their biggie-size bodies) who get some of the heartiest laughs but they're hardly in the picture. Summer is the perfect incubator for a primordial soup of cheesy sci-fi, compelling characters and aliens, but something's missing from this recipe.
"Evolution" opens with a meteor crashing into a section of isolated Arizona desert, where a wacky would-be fireman (Seann William Scott) is perfecting his rescue techniques. Two instructors from a nearby community college -- biology professor Ira Kane (Duchovny) and geology expert Harry Block (Jones) -- venture into the desert to investigate the meteor that's punched through Earth.
The meteor seems to be alive, oozing liquid when the scientists chisel a chunk to take to the lab. "Now that's really peculiar," Harry says. He has no idea.
The single cells start evolving, working their way up the evolutionary ladder -- to multi-cell organisms, flatworms, amphibians, reptiles and other creepy critters. Harboring visions of scientific glory, Ira and Harry keep the news to themselves, but the government gets wind of it and a 5-foot-long amphibian shows up on the golf course and you can only keep stuff like this secret for so long.
And pretty soon, the future of the United States is on line. So, who are you gonna call? Ghostbusters, er, the hapless stars of this film who must save the world. In addition to the teachers, that includes Moore as a klutzy epidemiologist from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Scott, one of the youthful stars of "Road Trip" and "American Pie."
Duchovny gets to play off his role as Agent Mulder on "The X-Files" and demonstrate a cheeky (literally) sense of rebellion. Jones must both spoof the role usually assigned to black actors -- insisting he's seen this movie and the black guy dies first -- and do the sort of eye-widening yowling that Spike Lee skewered in "Bamboozled." Moore fills the role of clumsy woman and potential love interest.
"Evolution," written by David Diamond and David Weissman ("The Family Man") and Don Jakoby, has some inspired moments, as when one of the evolving aliens gets loose in the mall. But it doesn't do enough with that foray into a favorite American hangout.
And, too often, the mood vacillates between scientific observation about a process such as mitosis and off-the-cuff unscientific chatter about the gelatinous sac expelled by an alien and how it looks like "a big loogie." In a way, it has too much of the former and too little of the latter, which is where the oversize brothers (Ethan Suplee and Michael Ray Bower) come in.
They provide some surprisingly smart comic relief. And one of the best product placements I've seen in a long time. I just wish everything before had been half as clever.
