Blu-Ray Review: Jack Black Hams it Up in Exhausting ‘Gulliver’s Travels’

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CHICAGO – It’s not uncommon to see truly talented people sucked into awful family fare. I think some actors, perhaps after doing a few too many “dark” roles in films aimed at adults, jump at the opportunity to do something light-hearted, fun, and for the little ones. How else to explain people as talented as Emily Blunt and Jason Segel getting sucked into the disappointing comedy “Gulliver’s Travels,” another piece of evidence in the mounting case against Jack Black?

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

Remember when Jack Black was the next comedy savior? He took small parts in the right movies (“Anchorman”), popped up in all the right places on TV, rocked out with Tenacious D, and delivered his best work with the spectacular “School of Rock.” A few miscast performances (“King Kong,” “The Holiday”) were forgivable but he was the main reason that “Nacho Libre” and “Year One” were nearly unbearable. By the time ads for “Gulliver’s Travels” popped up, most of us were wary.

The problem with Black’s recent performances (and the biggest problem with “Gulliver’s Travels”) is that there’s a desperation in his wacky behavior that makes even kids uncomfortable. There’s a difference between being willing to do anything for a joke and the desperation of going too far for one. Black feels desperate lately, like he’s begging you to find him funny.

Gulliver’s Travels was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 19, 2011
Photo credit: Fox Home Video

Of course, as I often hear from people, I’m judging a family film too seriously. So, let’s look at “Gulliver’s Travels” from the audience for which it was designed. Jonathan Swift’s classic satire has been reimagined with a classic family movie message about just being yourself. Lemuel Gulliver (Black) is a wacky, “Guitar Hero”-playing, mailroom worker. He’s secretly in love with one of the writers (Amanda Peet) at the company at which he works but he can’t bring himself to ask her out.

Gulliver’s Travels was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 19, 2011 Photo credit: Fox Home Video

Instead of mustering his courage, Gulliver tells his unrequited love that he wants to be a writer and, stupidly, plagiarizes from Time Out and Frommers to impress her (no wonder critics hated the movie since it basically excuses plagiarism in the pursuit of love). She’s impressed and sends Gulliver off on a new travel writing assignment to the Bermuda Triangle. Gulliver finds himself sucked into a reverse whirlpool and lands in the world of Lilliput where he is first deemed a beast, then a savior, then a king. It’s mostly just an excuse for wacky humor like when Gulliver pees on the King to save him from a fire or uses his belly fat to stop a cannonball assault.

“Gulliver’s Travels” isn’t as awful as some of the holiday 2010 family fare (I’d take it over “Little Fockers” and “Yogi Bear”) but it’s still mostly a waste of time for all ages. Blunt, Segel, and a few other talented actors keep it from total disaster, but the movie is just bizarre in its inconsistency. By the time Black is breaking into a musical number set to “War,” I wondered the killer question for a movie like this — who was this made for? Adults won’t find it interesting or funny and kids will probably just think it’s weird. Most kids are either smarter than the jokes here or won’t get the fact that Black is quoting Prince as he tries to help Jason Segel’s character woo the Princess. It’s a scene that falls flat for all ages. And, while there are glimpses at what could have been and the goodwill that probably brought the talented people on-board, there are too many of those flat moments to recommend the film. No wonder it was in 3D in theaters. They had to try something.

Special Features:
o Gag Reel
o I Don’t Know … With Lemuel Gulliver
o Deleted Scenes
o Little And Large
o Jack Black Thinks Big
o Gulliver’s Foosball Challenge
o War Song Dance
o Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character: Jack Black
o Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character: Jason Segel
o Fox Movie Channel Presents Life After Film School: Rob Letterman
o Fox Movie Channel Presents World Premiere
o BD Live Enabled
o Digital Copy
o DVD Version

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com