Larger than Life (1996)

(In French, On Cable TV, September 2022) So: Bill Murray plays a neurotic motivational speaker who inherits an elephant on the East Coast and finds no better course of action than to travel cross-country to deliver the animal to appropriate authorities in California. In five days. On no budget. Much of Larger than Life’s success will depend on whether you find this premise funny or not. Let’s just say that of the many comedies Murray did in the 1990s, this certainly wasn’t one of the best. In fact, despite the physical set-pieces, the clearly defined ticking clock, the appeal of Murray as a hangdog loser and an enviable dramatic choice that has the protagonist picking between Linda Fiorentino and Janeane Garofalo, Larger than Life feels much smaller than it should. The episodic nature of the adventures doesn’t help in maintaining a consistent tone, and even the lunacy of Matthew McConaughey as a dangerous nutcase isn’t enough to raise the interest level any higher. Since the plot is designed to be an ordeal for its protagonist, it makes sense that the film wouldn’t be pleasant to watch: the humour is weak, the pacing uneven and the overall result far less impressive than you may think. Murray himself may be part of the problem, underplaying everything in bemused fashion when an overwhelmed, frantic take would have been far more appropriate. At best, Larger than Life is amiable enough, with just enough of an emotional connection by the end to make the journey feel as if it was worth something. But not by much.