Valerie Highsmith (Sheila Kelley) is the bumbling daughter of a wealthy businessman on vacation in Mexico. Purse snatchers leave her on the streets with amnesia. Small time con man Frank Grimes comes along and takes her hostage. Her father sends investigator Raymond Campanella (Danny Glover) but he has no luck. Because of her bad luck, her father is convinced to send the equally bad luck accountant Eugene Proctor (Martin Short) to follow Valerie and partnered with Campanella.
This is adapted from a French movie and I have yet to laugh at a French comedy. Some of that is the language difference but I also think the French aren't that funny. This should work better with Short as the wacky funny man and Glover as the straight man. Short has his moments and Glover's best comedic partner remains Mel Gibson. The comedy is very broad and very limited. It's pretty stupid but not stupidly funny. Worst of all, the investigation isn't that compelling. Seeing Valerie doing similarly stupid things could make the concept work better. It may also work better if Eugene is an idiot but he's not really written as such. He could also be resigned to the bad luck. I'm not sure if Eugene is calibrated correctly.
This is adapted from a French movie and I have yet to laugh at a French comedy. Some of that is the language difference but I also think the French aren't that funny. This should work better with Short as the wacky funny man and Glover as the straight man. Short has his moments and Glover's best comedic partner remains Mel Gibson. The comedy is very broad and very limited. It's pretty stupid but not stupidly funny. Worst of all, the investigation isn't that compelling. Seeing Valerie doing similarly stupid things could make the concept work better. It may also work better if Eugene is an idiot but he's not really written as such. He could also be resigned to the bad luck. I'm not sure if Eugene is calibrated correctly.