The film does not go that far (one potentially graphic
scene is shown by having him put on a coat), but there are funny moments
showing his lungs filling with smoke after he puffs a cigarette. Ebert said, “I
am the sort of person who is inspired to strict logic by scenes like that, and
found myself wondering: What about the fillings in his teeth? Dirt under his
toenails? Contact lenses? "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" would have
been paralyzed as a movie if it started asking questions like that, but it does
ask questions that didn't occur in the classic Claude Rains "Invisible
Man" of 1933.” Also, it forces the woman in the invisible man’s life to also
ask some questions, but maybe not the most provocative ones.
The story this time has Chevy Chase as a man who is in
the wrong place at the wrong time when a secret government experiment goes
wrong. He is turned invisible, and so are parts of the building where the
experiment took place. Ebert compared, “The building is left resembling a large
block of Swiss cheese with large holes here and there, as if a postmodern
architect had finally been given completely free rein.”
At the time of his sudden invisibility, Chase is
looking forward to a date with a documentary filmmaker, played by the gorgeous
Daryl Hannah, he met in a restaurant a few days earlier. Ebert asks, “What to
do? Stand her up? Or count on a certain sympathetic warmth he saw glowing in
her eyes, and ask her for help?” As he decides, the plot moves along
predictable lines, as the government tries to keep the invisibility secret, and
a scheming spy, played by Sam Neill, tries to capture Chase for his own evil
plan.
The plot is lazy and predictable. What is good about
the movie involves Chase and Hannah, who have to work out between them the
logistical problems of their strange relationship. It’s one thing when love is
blind, but another when the lover is invisible. Chase walks in public inaudible
in clothes from top to bottom, or he sneaks around invisibly and eavesdrops on
people, or in one smart scene Hannah creates a face for him by painting one on
with makeup.
Ebert said, “This material is intriguing enough that I
wish there had been more of it.” Comedy has the application of logic to the
strange, and there are many more chances here than the screenplay takes advantage
of. Somehow the director, John Carpenter, seems convinced that we care about
the resolution of the plot involving spies and government secrecy. Ebert noted,
“We couldn't care less, since every character and every line of dialogue in
these scenes is demoralized by the countless times they've been recycled.”
How about a movie that was about the real subject of
this one: A relationship between a man who can see a woman, and a woman who
cannot see a man? What would they really talk about? What unsettling or interesting
lovable possibilities might there be? Daryl Hannah, who is onscreen some of the
time all by herself (talking to Chase’s spiritual voice) makes as much of such
chances as she can, and has fun with the funny strangeness of her situation.
However, the movie doesn’t help her much.
I remember seeing a couple of parts of this movie back
when I was a teenager. I think it was around the time when we first got cable
that I saw this on one of the movie channels. However, I never bothered to
think about this movie for years. That is until I was looking at Chevy Chase
movies to review this month, and found out that this movie was one he starred
in. When I looked up the movie, I remembered it from years ago. After seeing
it, it’s nothing special. I guess if you see it, it wouldn’t hurt, but don’t
expect much. This is just one of those forgettable films after you see it.
Thank you for joining in on “Chevy Chase Month.” I
hope everyone enjoyed it. Stay tuned next month to see what I will review next.
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