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Click above to purchase "Say It Isn't So!" at amazon.com
Say It Isn't So!
review by Zach B.
Rated R
Studio: Fox
Running Time: 95 minutes
Starring Heather Graham, Chris Klein, Orlando Jones,
Richard Jenkins and Sally Field
Written by Peter Gaulke & Gerry Swallow
Directed by J.B. Rogers
Retail Price: $29.98
Features: Audio Commentary with Director J.B. Rogers
and Chris Klein, Featurette, Deleted Scenes with optional
Commentary, TV Spots, Theatrical Trailer
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround,
English Closed Captions, English Subtitles, Spanish
Subtitles, Chapter Search (20 Chapters)
Released: August 21st, 2001
I already talked about how Fox got toasted with the bomb
Monkeybone
during February (click on that link to read more on that
matter), but the following month Fox got roasted again with
"Say It Isn't So!". Piss poor reviews and terrible box
office pretty much ruined the film, despite the fact that it
was from "The Farrelly Brothers" (they produced the movie,
they did not write and/or direct it which I think threw some
people off). Perhaps the days of "There's Something About
Mary" are long behind us, as gross-out comedies haven't
fared well at the box office as of late. As I write this,
the summer sequel "Scary Movie 2" isn't bringing in as big
of numbers as the original. I like a good comedy, so how
does "Say It Isn't So!" measure up? Let us see...
The always likeable Chris Klein plays Gilly, a dogcatcher
who soon meets and falls in love with Jo (Heather Graham).
As the two do become close to one another, Chris also sets
out to find his birth parents. He soon finds them alright...
and they're Jo's parents. So, that would make them siblings,
right? Yep. EW! This puts everyone into a tizzy, as Gilly
becomes hated and outcasted. However, it soon turns out that
there was a mistake and they are not related. With a little
help from Gid (Orlando Jones), Gilly sets out to win back
the girl of his dreams from a wealthy guy.
Now for my usual pun: just say this movie isn't so funny
(HAHAHAHAHA... SORRY). I mentioned gross-out comedies
earlier in this review, and this movie isn't really that
gross. I'm not a big fan of gross out comedies, because they
rely on stupid, cheap laughs and I find them to be very
overrated. "There's Something About Mary" is a perfect
example. People make giant deals about certain scenes that
you expect to be so great, but they never really are and you
come out watching it disappointed. "Say It Isn't So!"
features some slapstick moments, "gross out scenes" that are
not disgusting and finally, stupid one-liners that are just
terrible. This movie does not delivers the laughs. Nearly
all of the stuff in this movie isn't really exciting or
anything new. Considering the subject matter and crazy
townies, I expected a whole lot better from this movie.
There could have been some real outrageous moments, but
alas, there's nothing to talk about really.
This movie lacks any real depth too. Believe it or not,
it does try to be romantic but it feels so out of the
context I found it laughable and easy to mock. Yet I feel
the laughs fail so much is how the story is presented. It's
a really, really lightweight story and doesn't bother to
develop what it sets up briefly. Everything here seems so
bland and one-dimensional. The main and supporting
characters are never really developed so we're not sure how
to feel about them, some of them seem pretty stereotypical
which just annoyed me. The writing here is just terrible.
And the ending is just stupid and an attempt to make sure
that all the characters get their just desserts.
J.B. Rogers makes his directorial debut with this movie,
as he been assistant director on quite a few other movies
("American Pie" and some Farrelly films come to mind). He
does a decent job with the shoddy material and sets a good
pace, but I mean, he failed to realize the potential the
movie had. The performances are nothing great either so the
movie fails to be even believable in that sense. Sometimes
acting can help make a movie better, but not here. I will
mention Orlando Jones though, who actually uses a lot of
expression and is the only one who does a good job in the
film. I like Orlando Jones, so I was glad to see him pick up
the film a little despite the fact his character is barely
developed and is merely a supporting player.
"Say It Isn't So!" is not worth your time. It's not
funny, it's stupid and it's really nothing new as far as
jokes and wacky comedy goes. This movie could have been
entertaining and a comedy classic, but it fails to take a
premise, oddball characters and the like and do nothing
really good with them. Say it isn't so Zach! Say it isn't
so! Well, sorry, it is.
"Say It Isn't So!" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen, and the image is jawdropping and looks
incredible. Except for a few little instances, this transfer
is really amazing. The wide variety of colors are really
well saturated and vibrant which bring a nice dimension to
the image. Black level and detail is also great. My problems
basically were some dirt and blemishes that appear here and
there, but otherwise, it doesn't get better then this.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track for the film sounds pretty
impressive for the material. It's nothing earth-shattering,
but it gets the job done really well. There are some action
packed surrounds such as the ridiculous ending, when Gid get
hit by the car and the whole airplane incident. .1 LFE is
pretty good while I found the speakers to truly come alive
during the music which is well mixed. Dialogue is clear and
not distorted, and nothing overpowers it. This is a nice 5.1
mix that fits the movie well. English and French Dolby
Surround tracks are included as well as English closed
captioning plus English and Spanish subtitles.
While it's not a packed special edition and despite the
film bombing, Fox has provided a worthwhile package for "Say
It Isn't So!". Starting with an Audio Commentary with
Director J.B. Rogers and Chris Klein, the two provide a
decent commentary though it's nothing spectacular. There's
not much insight to provide with this movie, but the two
(who have been edited together into a nice, seamless track)
talk about the action on screen, casting, ad-libs and a lot
more. The comments are pretty simple, and Klein really does
sound like a nice, friendly guy but it's not that exciting.
If you liked the movie and wanted to hear what these two
have to say, give a listen.
As if the movie wasn't bad enough, there are Six
Deleted Scenes complete with optional commentary from
J.B. Rogers. Some of these scenes are extensions or
alternative versions. Rogers offers decent commentary about
the cuts made and the quality of these scenes are in really
clean non-anamorphic widescreen. However, they sometimes
change to black and white to color and back. It's a bit
weird.
A short, four mintue twenty second Featurette
that's purely promo is included that has behind-the-scenes
clips, footage from the movie and interviews. And rounding
out the disc are Five TV Spots and a full frame
Theatrical Trailer and two channel sound.
On another note, I hate the bland box art and the press
release advertises a Comedy Central special plus one of
those E! channel behind-the-scenes half-hour specials they
usually show on weekends. Neither are on the disc, and for
some reason a menu pic is on the back of the box that shows
the Comedy Central special being included. Weird.
While "Say It Isn't So!" is no comic masterpiece and had
a lot of potential which goes to waste, Fox has put together
a nice package for the film. Fans of the film should check
it out.
 (2/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (4.5/5)
 (4/5)
(2/5)
 (3.5/5, NOT an average)
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