Larger than Life (1996) Rated PG Starring: Bill Murray, Matthew McConaughey, and Janeane Garofalo Rating: out of

Jack has also been left with paying $35,000 in damages caused by the elephant. To come up with the money, Jack must take Vera across the country to San Diego, where he can sell Vera to either an animal trainer (Linda Fiorentino) or an activist (Janeane Garofalo). Along the way, Jack encounters one of his father's old circus buddies (Pat Hingle), who teaches him some of the tricks that Vera did in his father's act. Of course, these will come in handy later in the movie.

Anytime an animal is the co-star of a comedy, there's usually going to be some attempt at manipulating the audience's emotions as well. Larger than Life contains a little of that formulaic "bonding with the animal" stuff, but, by and large, sticks to being a "road movie" that gets Jack and Vera in and out of situations as they travel cross country.

This is pretty standard stuff, with only a few scenes being out-and-out funny and only one really being hilarious. Murray seems uninspired through much of the film, as does most of the cast. Only Matthew McConaughey possesses any manic energy as a crazed truck driver who Jack swindles into helping him.

There's nothing really wrong with Larger than Life, it's just a rather bland comedy featuring a comedian who has done much funnier movies, like Groundhog Day, Kingpin and Mad Dog and Glory. Still, for a younger audience, there's nothing too offensive to worry about and it might work as a good rental for the age 8-12 set.

Trivia: Director Howard Franklin is also responsible for directing the 1990 Bill Murray/Geena Davis comedy, Quick Change and co-writing 1997's Bill Murray outing, The Man Who Knew Too Little. (Source: The Internet Movie Database)