Memoirs of An Invisible Man
I've always wondered what it would be like to be invisible. You could do a whole lot of fun and interesting things. I figured that maybe this movie would do something with that. And though it has some really hilarious moments, the movie didn't seem to try hard enough to get a good plot going. Daryll Hannah gives some nice suggestions that I believe would make this movie wonderful. She says, "You could have a brilliant career as a bank robber," and other things like that. That's what I wanted to see.
But for some reason the writers decided to make him a loser who was "invisible before he was invisible." He didn't dare to do anything fun after he lost his molecules. All he does is run away from CIA agents and dress up in make-up. However, the movie is a lot of fun and sometimes hilarious when it wants to be (e.g. A group of the invisible man's friends show up and he is seen completely naked with his hands strategically located). But this plot was made just for cool special effects, which are very good.
I also sensed some plot holes that should have been filled. I'm not exactly sure how this invisible man story remained a secret for so long. Consider, the invisible man is in a park with all these clothes on. After he is spotted, he runs away, shedding his clothes as he goes. Soon, all he has on is his pants. This pair of pants runs through the park and people watch in awe. But somehow, this doesn't get to the press or anything. It still remains a secret. Of course, the movie would have been the same with the press, but they decided to leave them out.
Then again, the scene in the park is so original and inventive that I almost didn't even care about the discrepancy. When the pants unbutton and unzip, you can see inside the pants. The special effects are magnificent. Some of my favorites include a face of make-up and bubble gum. ILM must have worked overtime for some of these wonderfully original effects, especially on the scene where he throws up. Now that was cool.
Of course, the ILM workers didn't do all of the hard work. Daryl Hannah must have had a tremendous time pretending to know where he was and be holding him while he was invisible to us, the viewers. Chevy Chase, who has had a run of awful characters in movies, ever since National Lampoon's Vacation, but this one is very good. He performs it straight and well. He is frustrated and confused, while trying to cope with his feelings towards Hannah. The chemistry between these two characters is cute and effective. As for Sam Neill, he can never seem to get a part wrong, but this one is very good because he seems so evil. In one clever scene, Neill has a gun stuck to his head and forced down a hall and outside. Neill must have had a lot of practice for that scene because it looked very real.
Memoirs of An Invisible Man is rated PG-13. The violence is kept to a minimum, but the language is a little harsh for this rating. There is some sex off-screen and partial nudity when Chase takes off his clothes. With the story being what it is, the movie really relies on the special effects and the performers to make it good. And they do it well, but it could have been a really good movie. Unfortunately, it didn't do well at the box office, and I think it deserved better than what it got.