Lake Placid
When a man is eaten alive by an unknown creature, the local Game Warden teams up with a paleontologist from New York to find the beast. Add to the mix an eccentric philanthropist with a penchant for "Crocs", and here we go! This quiet, remote lake is suddenly the focus of an intense search for a crocodile with a taste for live animals...and people!
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- Cast:
- Bill Pullman , Bridget Fonda , Oliver Platt , Brendan Gleeson , Betty White , David James Lewis , Natassia Malthe
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Reviews
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
The entire movie is littered with original and well-delivered sarcasm, perfect for this genre. If anyone gave it less then a 6/10 they didn't get the wit, or only like violence for violence sake. If you want to see everyone die, this was not your movie. But if you appreciate characters upping each other with sarcasm every other scene, then you picked the right movie. And Gleeson is brilliant as usual. Hard to think of any actors who can deliver lines as dryly as him. I would have given it a higher rating, but it did wander plot-wise at different moments throughout. Also i haven't been able to put my finger on it, but something was missing and i think it was character arc. No one really goes through any changes really, except the Oliver Platt character, and he was pretty shallow to start so... Could have used some more depth to their emotional states, but that did not hurt it at all as far as a summer ride type movie...
This is not so much a horror film as a comedy in my opinion. The sarcasm is so good. The acting is very good, the plot is okay, and the acting is actually well done. Betty White is great as the outre croc feeder who not only feeds the super crocs her cows but has even lost her husband to one of them. (Turns out there are two). Oliver Platt is excellent as the flamboyant, rich, eccentric who swims with gators and crocks all over the world. He believes he is safe, until he meets this one anyway. The interaction between him and the sheriff is hilarious as it skirts the bounds of homosexuality with double entandres all over the place. Bridget Fonda is the paleontologist sent out by her museum because she and her boss lover have broken up. The scenes are usually funny in a macabre way. When the crock is finally trapped in the helicopter, it is saved by Platt and Fonda who get the rest to go along with the plan. It's mate is killed when it comes to see what is going on. At the end the movie closes with Betty White feeding some baby crocs. Gee think there will be a sequel???
Having just been dumped by her boyfriend (who is also her boss) for another colleague at work, "Kelly Scott" (Bridget Fonda) is then sent from New York City all the way to Maine on the flimsy reasoning that there might be something of interest up there for the museum in which she works. When she gets there she meets a frustrated county sheriff named "Hank Keough" (Brendan Gleeson) and a puzzled ranger from the Department of Fish and Wildlife who goes by the name of "Jack Wells" (Bill Pullman). Not only do they not understand why Kelly has been sent but neither of them thinks she belongs with them on this dangerous mission which has already resulted in the death of at least one person. However, they are in for an even bigger surprise when a rich but extremely eccentric crocodile hunter named "Hector Cyr" (Oliver Platt) shows up unexpectedly. Anyway, rather than reveal any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this film turned out to be somewhat entertaining all things considered. I liked the mix of characters and I thought all of the actors did a fine job. I also liked the special effects and I thought the giant crocodile was certainly better than those displayed in some of the other films involving similar creatures. However, the humor wasn't nearly as fine as it could have been and the inter-relationship between Jack and Kelly lacked passion. All in all this wasn't a bad movie and I rate it as about average.
If I had to pick one movie that I believe jettisoned the current craze for schlocky creature features to where it's at now, it would be 1999's "Lake Placid." Full of ridiculous characters, gory killings, and a cameo from Betty White in which she swears not like one but several sailors, it paved the way for today's fun B-movies in the vein of "Sharknado" and pretty much any film in the Asylum catalog. A group of investigators are called to a remote lake in Maine after the mysterious death of a police officer occurs in the usually calm waters. Upon arriving, the team discovers that a crocodile has somehow made its way into the lake and is feeding on anything big enough to satisfy its appetite... whether it be animal or human. Where did the beast come from and how can they stop it before it kills again?"Lake Placid" boasts an ensemble cast of actors who looking back now would consider this slumming it by how they're viewed today. Bill Pullman portrays one of the crocodile hunters and puts forth every effort to take the material seriously. Bridget Fonda is a paleontologist who delivers an emotional performance completely unnecessary for such a lighthearted adventure romp. Brendan Gleeson plays the local sheriff and you'd never know he would grow into such a respected British thespian of cinema. Oliver Platt fully embraces his role as an eccentric rich boy obsessed with the oversized scaly lizards."Lake Placid" is rated R for violent creature attacks and related gore, and for language. There's no nudity but plenty of conversations about sex and innuendos. If you have a weak stomach when it comes to on screen carnage, you might find yourself hurrying to close your eyes at points. Clocking in at an hour and twenty-two minutes, "Lake Placid" is a great example of the term "less is more." It doesn't overstay its welcome and accomplishes what it wants to within its run time. I think its legacy of made-for-TV sequels speaks for its appeal to monster movie enthusiasts who enjoy a little humor and cheese with their severed limbs and decapitated heads.