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Audience's Travails

One glance at the movie poster tells you all that you need to know about this one. At the top, in big bold red letters, is the name "Jack Black". Below that is Mr. Black himself, making The Face. You know The Face, don't you? Raised eyebrow, maniacal grin. Tucked in the corner, slightly concealed, is the name of the movie: "Gulliver's Travels".

Since nudging his way into mainstream Hollywood with his admittedly endearing supporting role in "High Fidelity", Mr. Black has made a career of rolling out the same (increasingly tiresome) character and the same (increasingly tiresome) shtick in a surprisingly large body of work for nigh on a decade. In cases where he is re-relegated to second-banana ("Tropic Thunder" for instance) he can still evoke chuckles, but the 85 minutes of window dressing that writers Joe Stillman ("Shrek") and Nicholas Stoller ("Yes Man") hang around his boobery are about 60 minutes too much.

The movie's occasional saving grace rests on the shoulders of some decent supporting turns, most notably that of Chris O'Dowd ("Dinner For Schmucks"), playing Gulliver's nemesis, General Edward. In a possibly intentional meta-performance O'Dowd gives voice to the audience's distain for this whole endeavor while biting into some of the best lines with a snideness and gusto that's evocative of an Alan Rickman villain at his best (which is to say: worst). Billy Connolly ("The X Files: I Want to Believe") deserves better in the role of King Theodore, but manages to emerge largely unscathed. The same can be said for Jason Segel ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall"), Emily Blunt ("The Young Victoria"), and Amanda Peet ("2012"). While for the most part they are set-pieces rather than characters, in all three cases they can be forgiven for signing-on to a "paycheck movie" now and again - though Ms. Peet may want to watch the increasing frequency with which this seems to be the case.

On the plus side, director Rob Letterman's previous experience with animated features ("Monsters vs. Aliens", "Shark Tale") lends itself well to the storybook setting of this attempted fairytale, and he ably handles the management of incorporating giant Gulliver with the diminutive Lilliputians. He also has some fun with the 3D medium, only occasionally giving in to the understandable temptation to launch of spears, bullets, punches, etc. directly at the audience.

For those who continue to buy into of Mr. Black's clear commitment to the fact that he is f-u-n-n-y, FUNNY, "Gulliver's Travels" delivers. For the rest - it's hard not to feel bad for them as their 6 - 10 year-olds relentlessly replay the film in the back-seat DVD players of their mini-vans.