The Big White Reviews

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a nice cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, I have a weak spot for all the actors involved (Holly Hunter, Robin Williams, Woody Harrelson, Alison Lohman, Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Blake Nelson) and they all did a good job but the story was not amazing and it was just too predictable in my opinion. Above all, it was really obvious that they tried just too hard to be as brilliant as 'Fargo' but they never reached this level of greatness. Still, any comedy involving Robin Williams and Woody Harrelson can't be boring and they made the whole thing quite entertaining to behold. Concerning Holly Hunter, after this movie, it would take 7 long years before she would show up in another theatrical feature (some really obscure and rather disappointing Dutch feature called ‘Jackie’) which is too bad because she is definitely a fine actress. Concerning Robin Williams who passed away not so long and who was apparently struggling with some drinking issues while shooting this picture, it’s just sad to look back at his work with all this in mind. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a decent dark comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you lik the genre.

Wenn Robin Williams mal nicht in einer Familienkomödie spielt, dann versucht er sich meist in kleineren etwas schrägen Filmen und ebenso oft gehen diese Filme am Massenpublikum nahezu spurlos vorüber. Auch der vorliegende Film ist wieder so ein Fall, eine in Ansätzen gute schwarzhumorige Komödie im Stil von Fargo. Leider geht der Story und der Inszenierung irgendwann die Luft aus und übrig bleiben gute Darsteller in einer trostlosen weißen Winterlandschaft.