Excess Baggage starts out with the fascinating plot premise of an attention-starved young woman who stages her own kidnapping in order to get her father to notice her, but this goes wrong when her car, with her bound and gagged in the boot, is stolen by a car thief! Being a romantic comedy, a genre I enjoy, and starring Alicia Silverstone, who I like, it seemed that this was going to be a very enjoyable film.

Sadly, it all went downhill rather quickly from there…

For one thing, the kidnapped girl, Emily (Silverstone) was just very dislikeable, despite the fact that some reason is given for the way she is – I just couldn’t warm to her (especially consider how cute Silverstone can be, albeit directors always seem to cast her as a brat!) Benicio Del Torro’s performance a the carjacker Vincent seemed a bit odd to me… apart from the fact that I found it very difficult to hear what he was saying at times and he seemed to approach the film with a rather slapstick comedy approach. I had no problem with this as such since it would have actually worked rather well if the directorial style had suited it. Then again I’m really not sure what Director Marco Brambilla was thinking when he made this film – it had great potential as a comedy but virtually none of it was realised. At least of Benicio had a nominated for Outstanding Actor in the ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) Awards (must not have been many possibilities that year…) while poor old Alicia was nominated for a Razzie as Worst Actress. Much as I like her, I must say she probably deserved it!

Hot on their trail are a couple of thugs who were going to collect the car from Vincent, whose money he still has, and “Uncle Ray” (Christopher Walken), a character whose past and motives are never really made clear, but generally he works for Emily’s dad, shady businessman Alexander T Hope (Jack Thompson). Harry Connick Jr turns up as well, though thankfully / sadly (depending on your point of view), he doesn’t sing. Then of course there’s the added complication of Emily and Vincent’s growing attraction, though what they see in each other is beyond my meagre powers of comprehension.

Two years later Silverstone and Walken teamed up again for the brilliant “Blast From The Past”, and I guess one of the problems was that I was expecting something of a similar standard, or at least a similar nature, with this film. Unfortunately Excess Baggage is just that, a cumbersome addition to my movie collection that I now regret getting. It’s not funny, it’s not romantic, and for a romantic comedy that’s pretty bad news. It’s not as bad as the absolutely dire “Something Wild”, perhaps, which it reminded me of in places, but it’s still pretty bad. It only just did enough to convince me it was worth more than a single star. Considering the potential of the initial plot premise, it’s a real waste. The only real positive about the film is the lively soundtrack by John Lurie.

Even if you’re a real Alicia Silverstone fan you’d probably best avoid this – it might make you slightly less of a fan if you watch it…


See Also:

My Ten Favourite Romantic Comedies


Recommended:
No

Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older