Meatballs Review
The first of Bill_Murray's cinematic comedy hits in the wake of his stint on TV's Saturday_Night_Live, Meatballs is a silly, enjoyable romp set at a low-cost summer camp. Murray stars as the camp's head counselor, a quack whose immature, screwball sense of humor hides a good-natured veneer when he befriends a depressed 11-year-old (My_Bodyguard's Chris_Makepeace). Other characters, played primarily by an unknown Canadian cast, include camp chief Morty (Harvey_Atkin), Murray's love interest Roxanne (Kate_Lynch), the ultra-nerd Spaz (Jack_Blum), and his hefty pal Fink (Keith_Knight). All figure into the film's funniest scenes including Spaz's seemingly hopeless efforts to find a girlfriend and Fink's repulsive but hilarious appearance in a hot dog-eating contest. However, it's Murray who really ignites the picture, whether he's doing wacky camp announcements, telling a campfire story about a hook-handed killer, or inspiring his overmatched troops with his chant of "It just doesn't matter" in a scene that recalls John_Belushi's rant for revenge in National_Lampoon's_Animal_House. The slim plot finds Murray's Camp Northstar pitted against the rich kids at nearby Camp Mohawk in the annual summer games. Naturally, the underdogs make a valiant comeback that is all for naught if Makepeace's Rudy can't win a four-mile run. Directed by Ivan_Reitman, who later helmed Stripes and Ghostbusters, Meatballs actually retains a degree of sweetness and innocence that sets it apart from the raunchier comedies of its era, including Caddyshack (which co-starred Murray) and the Reitman-produced Animal_House. Patrick Legare, Rovi
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