A star studded cast of comic geniuses and the men behind Sgt. Bilko, Ruthless People, Ghost and The Naked Gun combine to make one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time - Rat Race.

--- Cast ---
Donald Sinclair - John Cleese.
Owen Templeton - Cuba Gooding Jnr.
Enrico Pollini - Rowan Atkinson.
Vera Baker - Whoopi Goldberg.
Merrill Jennings - Lanei Chapman.
Nick Schaffer - Breckin Meyer.
Duane Cody - Seth Green.
Blaine Cody - Vince Vieluf.
Tracey Faucet - Amy Smart.
Randy Pear - Jon Lovitz.
Beverly Pear - Kathy Najimy.
Harold Grisham - Dave Thomas.
Vicky - Brandy Ledford.

--- Main Characters ---
Millionaire Donald Sinclair (John Cleese of Fawlty Towers and Monty Python) is the eccentric hotel manager, who encourages his wealthy clients to make bets on absolutely anything.

Nick Schaffer (Played by Breckin Meyer of Clueless, Road Trip and Kate & Leopold) is an over-cautious, non-gambling future lawyer, staying at the hotel for a bachelor party.

Duane and Blaine Cody (Seth Green and Vince Vieluf of Austin Powers and An American Werewolf In Paris) are dim-witted brothers, hanging around the hotel, so Blaine can purposefully have an accident, with Duane acting as the witness so they can sue for compensation. Blaine has just pierced his own tongue, which has swollen up so nobody, except apparently Duane, can understand what he's saying.

Owen Templeton (Cuba Gooding Jnr of The Fighting Temptations and Pearl Harbor) is a disgraced football referee, who has recently made a big mistake on the field of a national game, and is now the most hated man in America.

Vera Baker (Whoopi Goldberg from Ghost and Sister Act) is visiting the hotel to meet her daughter Merrill Jennings, (Lanei Chapman) who she gave up for adoption at birth and hasn't seen in 27 years.

Randy and Beverly Pear (Jon Lovitz and Kathy Najimy of Saturday Night Live and Sister Act) are on a family vacation to see David Copperfield with their two nightmare kids. Randy has promised his wife he won't gamble, but he can't resist a little flutter on the fruit machines.

Enrico Pollini (Rowan Atkinson - Black Adder, Mr Bean) is a narcoleptic Italian, who can't speak English very well and could fall asleep at any given moment.

-

When they each win a special quarter in a slot machine in the casino of Donald Sinclair's hotel, they are told the prize is a free buffet and a surprise.
The surprise is soon revealed - Donald Sinclair has called them all together to tell them that 563 miles away, at the train station in Silver City, New Mexico, there is a locker containing $2 Million dollars.
He gives each of the 6 parties a key, and tells them whomever gets to the locker first gets to keep the money.
At first they are skeptical, but soon enough they are all in a 'rat race' to win the money.
What they don't know is that Donald Sinclair and a group of his preferred millionaire clients, who are following the progress of the racers through a tracking device in their key fobs, have thousands of dollars worth of bets riding on who's going to win.
The rest of the film follows the 6 parties as they attempt to get halfway across America, while competing with each other, and each trying to sabotage the others attempts.
Much hilarity ensues as they each get into various and most-unlikely scrapes.
Watch out for Duane and Blaine as they drive their truck up the airport's radar control tower, hijack a hot air balloon and pick up a low-flying cow.
Nick Schaffer hooks up with helicopter pilot Tracey (Amy Smart - Starsky & Hutch 2004 and Road Trip) and ends up along for the ride as she takes her helicopter to get revenge on her cheating boyfriend (Dean Cain).
Vera and Merrill get sent on a dangerous detour because they didn't buy a squirrel from the nice roadside squirrel lady (Kathy Bates), and steal a landspeed record-breaking rocket car.
Randy and Beverly manage to steal Adolf Hitler's car from a German museum, and get attacked by a gang of female motor bikers.
After falling asleep for a few hours, Enrico gets run over by emergency organ transporter Zack, (Wayne Knight) who is driving a heart to New Mexico. He can't believe his luck at being offered a lift, but after losing the first heart, to save Zack’s job, the heart must be replaced, with Enrico's.
Owen gets dumped in the middle of a desert in his underwear, by a vengeful taxi driver who lost money on the game he misjudged. He ends up driving a coach full of Lucille Ball impersonators on their way to the third annual 'I Love Lucy' convention.

--- My Opinion ---
First of all, I knew I was going to love this movie before it even began, because it's based on another one of my favourite movies - 1963's Spencer Tracy comedy It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which is about a mad race across country to find money buried underneath a big 'W'.
Not only that, but it stars some of my favourite actors and actresses - John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Breckin Meyer and Seth Green, this being the fourth thing those two have worked on together.
I can't say enough good things about all of the actors. They're all huge stars and hilariously funny in their own right, so put them all together and you're practically guaranteed to come out with a top film, which is exactly what Rat Race is.

As for the plotline, well, it's unlikely to say the least, can you really imagine a hotel manager popping $2 million into a locker and telling you to go and get it? But that's beside the point of this film. It's not meant to be based in reality. Have you ever seen a helicopter chasing a car down the highway? Thought not.

You never guess which one will win the money, although you spend the whole film thinking, "he's going to get there first, no he's not, yes he is..."
There's a nice twist at the end, which makes the ending surprising and unpredictable, although somewhat out of place with the rest of the film. Don't get me wrong, it's a good ending, and I ended up thinking 'should've seen that one coming'. But it's hard to guess what’s going to happen, and it was nice to watch a film where I hadn't predicted the ending ten minutes after the start.

I bet the cast had such fun filming this; they certainly look like they did.
For me though, Seth Green and Vince Vieluf, as Duane and Blaine Cody steal the show, making a very good comic pair. But nobody deserves a special mention more than the low-flying cow, which gets hooked onto the end of a hot air balloon and winds up in the driving seat of a convertible!

This film has quickly become of my favourites, I first watched in on Sky Movies, and still tend to watch it every time it's shown, and I still find myself doubling up with laughter every time. The image of Seth Green and Vince Vieluf driving up a control tower will be permanently sketched in my mind for one thing!
I've bought the DVD as well, and it's one of my ultimate 'cheer up' movies that I pop on whenever I'm feeling down.
Okay, so it won't challenge your brain cells, but sometimes you just need to sit down and laugh for 2 hours of escapism.

--- Humour ---
Donald: This is my assistant Mr Grisham, who, tragically, was born without a personality.

Merrill: So, when you say "go", do you mean, just go?
Donald: Uhm... Begin, commence, start moving... Theoretically you have been racing for about forty seconds now, and so far Mr. Schaffer is in the lead because he's nearest to the door.

Duane Cody: One of us has to be the victim, one of us has to be the witness. What kind of a witness would you make? I'm your own brother, and I don't know what the hell you're saying.

Enrico: Am I too late? Look I won a coin, a gold coin, isn't it wonderful? Look at this room, what a beautiful room. Have you seen this room?
Randy: Yes! We’re in it.

Donald: I can do whatever I want. I'm eccentric. Grr! Grr!

Enrico: (looking at cocktail sausages on the buffet) Ooooh look! Cock doggies!

--- Other Info ---
Year: 2001
Time Running: 112 Minutes.
Cert: 12.
Director: Jerry Zucker, who previously directed Ghost, First Knight and Ruthless People.
Written By: Andy Breckman, the writer of Sgt. Bilko, I.Q., Moving and True Identity.

DVD Extras:
- 'Making Of Rat Race' documentary.
- Interview with director Jerry Zucker and writer Andy Breckman.
- Deleted Scenes.
- Outtakes.
- Theatrical Trailer.

--- Pricing ---
I got the DVD for £6.99 in HMV, but I think it was on sale then.
Amazon.co.uk have the DVD for £14.39, and the video for £5.99, but you can pick up a bargain with Marketplace prices starting from £3.
I've also seen it in Woolworths recently for £12.99.

It's also shown on the Sky Movies channels all the time. I don't know when the next showing is, but it's usually on every couple of weeks.

--- Tagline ---
- 563 miles. 9 people. $2 million. 1001 problems!