Grilled (2006)

"Grilled" tries desperately to be one of those wacky comedies where one thing keeps leading to another, but it just never seems to gel properly. New characters and plot elements are thrown in without a second thought, the writers churn out scenes without having any idea what the next scene is going to be about. Ray Romano and Kevin James manage to not embarrass themselves completely in this wasteland, but that really just makes it all even sadder. Clearly they could have done something really entertaining with a decent script, but their talents are wasted here. The ending is also really abrupt and a total anti-climax, but by that time I couldn't really complain because well, at least it was over. "Grilled" is a manual of everything you shouldn't do when you try to write a crime comedy, but I can't see another use for it.

When I heard that Ray Romano, Kevin James and Sofía Vergara are in a movie I was expecting laugh-out-loud entertainment. Sadly, 'Grilled' is not that. This is by no means the fault of the actors. The fault mainly lies in the script. The plot is very weak and the relationship between between the main characters and the supporting ones are underdeveloped. Romano and James's characters are quite well-written. They work very well off one another (even though sometimes they're given terrible lines). Sophia Vergara oozes heat and she's funny at the same time even though her character is halfbaked. Juliette Lewis is a little over the top at times but otherwise she's hilarious. While the characters are funny and the story lacks focused, 'Grilled' may have worked as a silly comedy if only it was funnier. It tries to be wacky but mostly falls flat. The actors are the ones who bring humour to their characters and because of that 'Grilled' is average at best.

first and third acts were pretty good. Uneven middle with some sequences that didn't add up. Especially something they tried to make you believe about Sofía Vergara's character. No one would buy it for one second.But leads (Ray and Kevin) were very funny in spots, especially if you like dark comedy. These roles are a bit more serious than most people will be used to for these actors. But their characters seemed genuine, and provided laughs throughout. Smaller parts were made for laughs, but fell flat in places. One exception was Kim Coates, who was an over the top arms dealer in a brief but funny role. In total, I think it was worth seeing.

Two meat salesmen (Romano and James) are desperate for sales and their last lead finds them in the middle of mobsters trying to kill one another…and maybe them too. Oh, oh! One would think that because Ray Romano and Kevin James are in this that there will be laughs somewhere in here. Didn't happen. This is light drama, not a comedy. Not one line or even physical comedy showed up in this movie. Not one line. Even in light drama or heavy drama you can find at least one good line. Not here. Everything was played straight. For light drama it was okay.The acting was good all around and Michael Rappaport, one of the bad guys named Bobby, was refreshing playing a part straight and not going ballistic when it comes time for him to talk. Burt Reynolds needs to get into more movies as he is extremely watchable and good. His part here was too short.All in all a pleasant movie and if you see laughs where I didn't, you must also laugh yourself silly watching The Office, a TV show that some sick people find funny. Oh, yes that TV show wins awards, but the awards are given by those same sick people. I cannot win.