Up in Smoke
Bank teller Sheila Rilo (Alicia Silverstone) has been dating her boss on and off for a few years but now feels like he was just using her when he dumped her so plans revenge by robbing the bank. Her colleague Stuart (Paulo Costanzo) also as plans to rob the bank but then take a trip to Vegas with his friend Max (David Krumholtz), win big and return the money he stolen but with a million in his pcket. But then there is also nature loving Jason (Woody Harrelson) who having worked for the bank for many years gets a promotion but a piddly little rise and so also plans to rob the bank in particalr the safety deposit box of local millionaire Charles Merchant (John Cleese) who he blames for shooting a duck. The thing is that none of them no each other's plans or that they all plan to rob the bank at the same time. And then there is Shmally (Rachael Leigh Cook) who doesn't work at the bank but hates Merchant and plans to egg his house with the help of her roommate Carter Doleman (Marcus Thomas) who has just started working at the bank.
Evidently when "Scorched" got its theatrical release it got put into 12 theatres and earned just $8,000 during its opening weekend leading too it being pulled after just three days. Now that should be a warning for you as whilst "Scorched" has a cast of familiar names and in fairness a reasonable basic idea the final product ends up a mess and not as funny as it could have been in the hands of someone who doesn't get side tracked with irrelevant side plots and focusses instead on making it stylish but chaotic at the same time which is it what it should be.
Now as I said the basic idea to "Scorched" is not bad with three different people deciding to rob the back at the same time, all with different reasons from thrill seeking to revenge. But instead of making this a typically snappy heist movie it all feels sloppy as director Grazer gets side tracked by irrelevant things such as the unimportant characters of Shmally and Max. It sucks the movie dry when we have irrelevant scenes of Max and Stuart arguing or Schmally fantacizing about being zome Xena warrior attacking her roommates former boss.
But then once we have done with what should have been the stylish planning phase of the movie we should the get the screwball comedy of the three robberies going on at the same time. But unfortunately the comedy of the chaos never really comes to fruition and again feels like a case that Grazer gets distracted by the unimportant and that dilutes the comedy down. In fairness it doesn't help matters that this recognizable cast of talented comedy actors which include John Cleese either over play their parts or struggle with poorly developed characters.
What this all boils down to is that "Scorched" ends up a movie with not only wasted potential but a wasted cast. It makes "Scorched" one of those movies which you want to like because of the potential but end up struggling to enjoy because it just doesn't come together.
