Say It Ain’t So (2001)

Directed by: JB Rogers | 95 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Chris Klein, Heather Graham, Orlando Jones, Sally Field, Richard Jenkins, John Rothman, Jack Plotnick, Eddie Cibrian, Mark Pellegrino, Brent Hinkley, Henry Cho, Richard Riehle, Brent Briscoe, Ezra Buzzington, Julie White

Peter and Bobby Farrelly were responsible for the production of this film, their protégé Rogers for the directing. Although this assistant director of Farrelly films like ‘Dumb & Dumber’ and ‘There’s Something About Mary’ has clearly looked to his teachers, his directorial debut does not splash off the screen.

Still, the movie starts off well. ‘American Pie’ actor Klein endears as a love-struck teen who sees his dream woman in Jo; the lady who gives him goosebumps all over his body. With his droopy eyes he looks into the camera and he is one lump of gentleness the treasure even writes poems for animals. Unfortunately, throughout the film, he continues to gaze just as angelically around him. Even when he should be furious.

Graham compares very favorably with this one-dimensional wimp. The rollergirl from Boogie Nights is fiery, funny and sensitive and even manages to push multiple Oscar winner Sally Field into the background with her twinkling eyes. And that while Field really pulls out all the stops to steal the show as Jos white trash-mum. Big is her hair, bright pink are her lips and, oh, how shiny her polyester outfits are. While she’s funny at times, she just doesn’t have it and doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

The film is quite nice in the beginning, from the moment Gilly Jo travels, things get messed up. Rogers opens a can of freaks and piles one absurd event after another. The nod to films like ‘Wayne’s World’ and ‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ is obvious. Also, the humor is just as cruel and raunchy as in the average Farrelly creation. Unlike the first part of the film, in which Roger’s jokes are (almost) as unpredictable as those of the Farrellys, in the middle part you can smell the punchline from afar. Gilly allows himself to be seduced into a flight with a legless pilot. He casually asks the aviator how he lost his legs. During a flight I was on as a soldier, the pilot reveals. Gilly is flabbergasted, the viewer is not at all. Incidentally, the film does come alive at the end. Especially the scene in which Gilly is introduced to a herd of cows in a particularly disgusting way

‘Say It Isn’t So’ is quite an entertaining movie. At least for lovers of rancidity and absurdity. However, it is not a top film. The dose of predictable humor is too great for that.