![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/s/sayitisntso.jpg)
Say It Isn't So!
The Farrelly brothers have out-Farrelly'd themselves with Say It Isn't So!, a pointless gross-out comedy with fewer real laughs than an episode of ER. But at least the guys behind There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber only produced this dud; it's director James B. Rogers who ultimately gets to take "credit" for "jokes" like the scene in which hero Gilly Noble (Chris Klein) gets his hand stuck up a cow's rear end. (Ha.) Of course, that's nothing compared to the film's main joke, which revolves around incest. (Hee hee.) It all starts when earnest animal-control worker Gilly, an orphan, falls for inept hair stylist Jo (Heather Graham). Everything's peaches and cream — despite the fact that she slices off the top of his ear in a fairly graphic shot — until Gilly finds out that the woman of his dreams may actually be his sister. (Hysterical, no?) Turns out that's not the case, but by the time Gilly discovers the truth, Jo is halfway across the country and engaged to Jack (Eddie Cibrian), a rich, handsome guy who'll do anything to keep her. It's up to Gilly, with the help of whacked-out hippie pilot Dig (Orlando Jones), to win her back, fighting to prove that he's sane, he still loves her, and, incidentally, he's not a blood relative. Not the greatest premise under the best of circumstances, especially when the cast and script don't do anything to improve things. Klein is a one-note actor (he's got the "sincere nice guy" thing down pat), and Graham powers her way through the film with a too-brisk manner that suggests she just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Sally Field goes way over the top as Jo's mother Valdine — it's hard not to be a little embarrassed for her. Really, the only one worth watching is Jones, who takes advantage of his natural comic timing and turns Dig into a sweetly funny mentor for the clueless Gilly. But unless you like cheap shots at the disabled, rednecks, and cows — and have a soft spot for jokes involving the word "beaver" — Jones is the one bright spot in a tasteless waste of an hour and a half. All that aside, Fox has given the movie a nice DVD treatment. A set of six deleted scenes (with optional commentary) includes an extended ending, and a brief making-of featurette offers interviews with the principal cast and crew (including Field, who quite presciently says of the film, "It's beyond slapstick. It's almost a circus act.") There's also a full-length commentary track with enthusiastic observations from both Rogers and Klein, though it's obvious the two were recorded separately and edited together later. The theatrical trailer and five TV spots round out the list of extras. The sound is nothing to complain about — English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround tracks are both available, as is a French surround track and English and Spanish subtitles. The anamorphic transfer (1.85:1) is sharp and clear. Keep-case.
—Betsy Bozdech
