Rating: 12/20
Plot: The nephew of a hotel owner is left to take care of the business for a weekend, and all hell breaks loose when a buttload of Munchkins, an assassin, royalty bodyguarded by Chevy Chase, and some Japanese tourist fill the place. Shenanigans!
Billy Barty was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor. I'm not sure if any other little people have been nominated for that award. Barty really isn't bad. He makes a pretty sweet little Hitler, does two accents well in the movie, and disrobes Carrie Fisher with a cane sword. That's right. If you've ever wanted to see Carrie Fisher stripped by a little person, this is the movie for you. There's a ton of little person in this movie, and a ton of little person is a whole lot of little person. Most of the visual humor with them is really cheap although I did enjoy some kitchen mischief with a percussion ensemble. There's also a wild scene in the hotel lobby just filthy with little people swinging from chandeliers, dancing, and in the movie's best stunt, rolling down the stairs and then saying, "Heheh. I forgot my beer." Tony Cox is in this movie, and so is Phil Fondacaro who played the only Ewok to get a death scene in Return of the Jedi. Cork Hubbert plays the big little hero, and he's good enough to make me wonder why he didn't have more of a career. He's also handy with a sword during a fight scene with Barty's character. My question--How can a movie with this many little people end up so boring? Is it Chevy Chase's fault? Is it the weak story? It probably has a lot to do with the humor, most which falls as flat as humor can fall. "Too much iron in his system" seems like something Raymond Chandler would have thrown away. A "pearl is in the river"/"pearl is in the liver" gag seemed endless. And there's your customary "Is that your gun?" hard-on joke which is doubly criminal because it makes you ponder Chevy Chase's genitalia. This wasn't close to the amount of fun it should have been and manages to be the type of thing that is only almost worth watching.
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