Gone Fishin' (1997) Review

Comedian and writer Neal Brennan once remarked “there’s nothing worse than trying to be funny and not being funny.” Countless supposed comedies have tried too hard and failed even harder, aberrations like the disastrous spy spoof ‘Leonard Part 6,’ ‘Son of the Mask’ and the irredeemable ‘Movie 43.’ Torments to sit through, they stand as monuments to the painful truth that laughter cannot be forced.

Christopher Cain’s 1997 effort ‘Gone Fishin’ is one such disaster; a generic comedy so unfunny it’s a wonder it made it past the first table read. It follows bumbling buddies Joe and Gus, fishing enthusiasts who embark on their dream trip to Florida. On the way, they run afoul of a charming conman, befriend two feisty young ladies and leave a trail of chaos in their wake. However, instead of reeling in laughs, the film hooks nothing but groans and awkward silences.

A comedic calamity, the narrative contains no surprises; nothing builds and nothing lands. Instead of crafting humour from character or situation, screenwriters J.J. Abrams and Jill Mazursky rely on tired shtick that was outdated in the 1950’s. It’s astonishing how much talent is squandered here- Abrams, Academy Award winning cinematographer Dean Semler, producer Roger Birnbaum- yet the finished product is so flat and lifeless it seems like no one involved particularly cared.

Playing like a Three Stooges knock-off, the film has no momentum whatsoever. Lazily edited and burdened with an irritatingly upbeat score from Randy Edelman, it offers only clumsy gags and dead air. You feel every second of its 94-minute runtime. Even Semler’s cinematography, which brought such grandeur to ‘Dances with Wolves’, is utterly uninspired, reducing Florida’s landscapes to dull backdrops, as lifeless as a faded postcard.

Limping from one predictable pratfall to the next, the film leaves its talented cast stranded in material that is as uninspired as it is unfunny. One can only wonder what Joe Pesci, Danny Glover, Rosanna Arquette and Willie Nelson were thinking when they signed on. What on earth could possibly have seemed appealing about this trainwreck of a project?

Originally intended as a vehicle for the late, great John Candy and Rick Moranis, one can almost picture the two of them elevating the material with their natural chemistry, superb improvisation and impeccable comic timing. Candy’s warmth and chaos, paired with Moranis’s neurotic wit, might have given the story some spark, some charm; something that ‘Gone Fishin’ completely fails to deliver.

Joe Pesci is a dab hand at comedy. From ‘My Cousin Vinny’ to ‘Home Alone’, he effortlessly blends manic energy with precise timing, turning even the simplest line into something memorable. However, as Joe, he misfires, overacting wildly like a cartoon character stranded in a live-action world. Danny Glover fares no better in the role of Gus, reduced to reacting to slapstick setups with the kind of forced expressions that make you wince rather than laugh. 

Their supporting cast makes little to no impression whatsoever, drifting through the film like ghosts in a sandstorm. As the free-spirited girls the two meet along the way, Rosanna Arquette and Lynn Whitfield barely register, while Nick Brimble’s conman is about as menacing as a sleeping duckling. Gary Grubbs tries to inject some energy into proceedings as a slimy boat salesman, as does Maury Chaykin as an over-friendly waiter; but their efforts are in vain.

Bizarrely, Oscar winner Louise Fletcher turns up for all of two seconds as a waitress, getting nothing to do, seeming disappointed and going uncredited. Further, practically defining a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” cameo, is Willie Nelson, delivering his lines with the dazed detachment of a man who’s enjoyed a little too much of Willie’s Reserve. 

In his review of the Joan Rivers helmed flop ‘Rabbit Test’, Roger Ebert noted that "before anything else, movie comedy has to feel funny; we should sense from the screen that the filmmakers themselves are laughing. We don’t this time.” Such is the case with Christopher Cain’s ‘Gone Fishin’. Every gag feels staged, every pratfall forced. The result is a flat, joyless comedy that not only fails to amuse but also misses the most basic requirement of its genre: to make the viewer laugh. In the end, in trying so hard to be funny, ‘Gone Fishin’ flounders.