Chain of Fools (2001)

Annoying characters, doing annoying stupid things, can be kinda hard to relate to, and they certainly where in this film. It's comedy classic to have stupid people doing stupid things, but if the creators also want the audience to be involved in the ups & downs of these characters they got to give us some kind of reason, any reason... they didn't here. Steve Zahn is likable and charmingly goofy, I guess they just hoped that would be enough...I was fairly entertained anyway though, not because of the lazy faux-Tarantino time shifts, or the I-can't-really-be-bothered direction ("lowkey", if one wants to be charitable), but because most of the truckload of stars they had wheeled in has at least one or two amusing tricks they always can rely on if everything ells fails; I rarely laughed at the obvious "witty" lines or comedy set piece bits, but several times I snickered and giggled at some funny little look or tilt with the head.The plot was just the usual losers & crooks doing stuff on account of some McGuffin; I thought those went out of style back when Two Days in the Valley was released, but it seems like I was wrong. Still, seeing Elijah Wood as a 17 year old hit-man who smashes chair on people's heads was at least something different, and Salam Hayek in her underwear is always nice, so despite the fact that I can't really claim this is a good movie per se, I would still recommend it for anyone looking for a very undemanding time killer.

Recap: Kresk, struggling barber, recently divorced by his wife stumbles upon a secret when a gangster comes into his barbershop. This gangster, Avnet, was involved in a high profile theft last night involving three ancient Chinese coins. He thinks Kresk must die, fortunately fro Kresk Avnet stumbles and get Kresk's scissor in his neck. Now Kresk has a body to take care of. Unfortunately for Kresk, Kresk is not the brightest boy in town. And worse, neither is his friend Andy, full time scout, who he enlists for help. But as time goes, and things get worse, more and more people get involved, but Kresk is determined that those coins will change his life. For the better, he hopes.Comments: An unusual comedy/crime movie handling a lot of different subplots that runs at the sides of each others with a lot of intersections. What makes this unusual and imaginative is that what happens in a subplot we are not currently following has an impact how the story goes at the next intersection. At the same time we get the full coverage in time with a frequent use of flashbacks and jumps in the timeline. Still, it was never any problem to follow.The movie has a really big cast, and a lot of the names on the list are known. Goldblum delivers a solid performance as usual, Zahn is a great choice for Kresk. The best impression however I think I got from Elijah Wood who portrays a teen hit-man with finesse. I think it is the best performance from him I have ever seen. The director team Traktor has done a great work in their movie debut and I hope I will see more work from them like this one.7/10

"Chain of Fools" is one of those zany ensemble-cast spoofs on crime films. The "Fools" include Selma Hayek as a Playboy-posing police sergeant; Steve Zahn as an incompetent barber; Jeff Goldblum as a generic stylish thug; Elijah Wood as the world's youngest hit man; David Cross as an overgrown Boy Scout (literally); Tom Wilkinson as a vengeful wealthy industrialist; Orlando Jones as a beefy transvestite; and Lara Flynn Boyle as a treacherous ex-wife.Normally I love ensemble films, and this particular one had a great cast (well, Steve Zahn didn't particularly shine in this film, even though he has the most screen time). The problem with CoF is the parts aren't strung together that well. The plot is mediocre, the editing is haphazard and the story doesn't flow too well at moments.But the characters do provide quite a few laughs themselves. So it's better than your average schlocky comedy.7 out of 10.Barky

Traktor try to make this film like "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" but it's so simple not complex, not funny, not excite Too many Stars, but useless if you love Elijah wood, don't see this movie