SCREWED

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Norm Macdonald stars as Willard Fillmore, a butler for the wealthy Mrs. Crock. Willard follows in the footsteps of his father, who also worked for Mrs. Crock because, Willard was told, he would get ahead. Although he tries his hardest, Mrs. Crock is never satisfied and treats Willard badly. Frustrated by his situation, he shares his troubles with his friend Rusty. While watching a movie, Rusty is inspired to kidnap Mrs. Crock and hold her for ransom. Willard, however, knows the “wrath” of Mrs. Crock, and so the duo decide to take her dog Muffin instead.

One night, Rusty and Willard sneak upstairs into Mrs. Crock’s bedroom and steal the dog. However, when Willard tries to put Muffin in a box, he gets bitten on the hand. Despite his knocking things down and yelling at the top of his lungs, they manage to get Muffin inside the box, only to lose the dog later.

As they are walking down the street the next day, Willard and Rusty see Willard’s picture on the front of a newspaper and realize that Mrs. Crock thinks Willard was kidnapped. Seizing this opportunity, they decide to write a ransom note, asking for $5 million. Refusing to pay, Mrs. Crock’s miserly ways become evident to everyone in the community. Only when her pastry business begins to suffer, does she agree to strike a deal.

Meanwhile, Willard and Rusty convince an old acquaintance and morgue worker, Grover Cleaver, played by Danny DeVito, to supply them with a body in order to say it was Willard’s. Grover complies, with the understanding that he will get $100,000 for the deal after Willard and Rusty get the money from Mrs. Crock. They plan on accomplishing this by posing as the kidnappers. Their plan is foiled, however, when a disguised Willard gets the money only to be robbed of it by two punk kids. Many foiled plans follow, but eventually Willard and Mrs. Crock end their battle.

Some people may be drawn to the theaters for this comedy because of SNL star Norm Macdonald or Danny DeVito, but the lack of direction and substance in this movie proved worth only one star. Macdonald should stick with SNL’s news parody. DeVito reprises his role as the grotesque Penguin in BATMAN RETURNS with his portrayal of the sick and twisted morgue worker, Grover Cleaver. The scenes he acts in are ones of a violent, sometimes sickening, context.

Defying authority, participating in criminal activity, lying and overall absurdity made SCREWED a movie that seems to push its PG-13 rating. Parents should be aware of the amount of language in this movie, as well as its sexual connotations and often grotesque violence. Humor is sacrificed, not improved by the characters’ inability to care about anything but themselves. Though the end may have some redemptive qualities, by the time viewers get halfway through this movie they will realize that these qualities are grossly overpowered by elements which conflict with good sense and reverence for God.