Feature Review | Waking Up In Reno
Written by: Brian Orndorf

I can’t think of anything more horrifying to witness in a motion picture than seeing one great actor or actress hung out to dry in a laugh-free film. It’s so sad to see someone flopping around, gasping for any kind of witty line to free themselves from the pain of having every piece of dialog, movement or situation be worse than the one that preceded it. Well, in "Waking Up In Reno" - the considerably delayed "new" comedy - there are four good actors who don’t have a prayer against material that is so miscalculated that even the movie itself seems to want to cease running.

Lonnie Earl (Billy Bob Thornton) and Darlene (Natasha Richardson) are a seasoned married couple who are drifting apart. Roy (Patrick Swayze) and Candy (Charlize Theron) are two newlyweds looking to conceive a baby to save their failing marriage. When the foursome decides to take a vacation from their native Little Rock, Arkansas to travel to a monster truck show in Reno, Nevada, what lies ahead on the road for them are weigh stations of mischief, rest stops of adultery, and speed limit signs of renewed love.

This is the second southern-flavored comedy from director Jordan Brady - a Minnesotan - the first being the anemic "Dill Scallion," which took a labored "Spinal Tap" look at the bizarre world of country music. As a former stand up comedian, one might assume that Brady would be the best judge of what works comedically and what doesn’t. "Reno" is also the second film by Brady to blow that theory out of the water. "Reno," like "Dill Scallion," is a mess of a picture. It’s desperate in both laughs and situations, with neither of the two managing to surface during the contractually-obligated running time of 90 minutes.

The trouble with "Waking Up In Reno" is that it’s playing by southern "redneck" (forgive the term) charms that I don’t think audiences find funny anymore. Is it hilarious to see the foursome drinking beers while driving? Referring to a large bathtub as "like a swimmin’ pool!" Getting excited over a performance by Tony Orlando? Especially with shows like "King Of The Hill" around that can balance the southern graces with a little more respect for the idiosyncrasies in the culture, "Reno" seems antiquated by insisting that these dim-witted folk are pure comic gold.

Like clockwork, Brady, having assiduously set up that these characters are cartoons then suddenly asks that we care about them. The "Waking Up" of the title refers to how each of the characters must realize and deal with the marriage situation that they’re in. It’s a nice try by Brady to bring a little tenderness into the proceedings, but when a Reno prostitute (Penelope Cruz) seems a more appropriate match to Roy than his own wife Candy, something seriously wrong has occurred between what screenplay set out to do and what the finished film has chosen for itself.

As the two female leads of the film, both Charlize Theron and Natasha Richardson seems to be enjoying themselves. For Theron, it’s a chance to act crazy and sully her good looks under a bad wig and accent, but for Richarson, the chance to play an Arkansas wife must have been a dream come true. English by birth, Richardson stretches nicely in the role, even when forced to spit out terrible lines and even weaker motivations. A class act, I hope Richardson can recover from this career misstep.

For Patrick Swayze and Billy Bob Thornton, the results are less impressive. Cornering the market in playing hillbillies, Thornton looks bored out of his mind in the middle of delivering his performance in "Reno." Playing well below his gifts for drama, I would love to smack the guy who told Thornton he had a knack for comedy. Almost every line he utters has all the enthusiasm of road kill squirrel, and is about as amusing as one. And Swayze looks twitchily impatient, as if he is just bursting to bolt from this picture. Who could blame him, really?

"Waking Up In Reno" has been sitting on the shelf for almost three years now, and it appears that the picture has been worked on by many hands. It has the shaken, incomplete feel of a film that lost its way in the middle of its repeated studio interference. I can’t say it’s a shame, since the film is a lost cause right from the start.

Grade: 1 out of 10