Mystery Men
dir. Kinka Usher
Universal Studios

Ever go out on a date with a really attractive person only to find out that once they begin talking they aren't that attractive anymore? Well, you could take this person to Mystery Men and watch this phenomenon work on more than one level.

Not everyone loves Ben Stiller and Hank Azaria, but no recent comedy has done as well as There’s Something About Mary and no television sitcom of the ’90s is as praised or quoted as The Simpsons. Pair their success if not their talent with Janeane Garofalo’s invigorating joie de vivre, William H. Macy's straight man, and Tom Waits’ hipster cred and you might think you'd have a marriage made in comedy heaven. But you would only think that.

Not that the movie is entirely unfunny, but the times when it is truly funny are rare and can almost always be attributed to Macy's straight-faced delivery or Garofalo's wit. (One gets the impression that she is straining at the bit to get ahold of the script and make her lines funnier.) No amount of good-humored mugging from Stiller or Azaria can make up for its tired plot and stale dialogue.

Stiller, Azaria and Macy play a team of lame superhero friends who get a chance to come out from under Captain Amazing's shadow when the Captain is captured by the evil villain Casanova Frankenstein and his gang of disco toughs. Stiller and team hold tryouts and recruit three more wannabe superheroes as they prepare, under the tutelage of the mysterious Sphinx, to save Champion City.

I am a proud American, but it was hard for me to root for this bunch of ragtag Hollywood underdogs as they raced to Champion City's rescue, for the simple reason that they are from Hollywood and you know that they are going to win. It is like Hoosiers for grown-up children, only Mystery Men is not worth the guilt of having liked it. Possibly most telling is that one of the best lines in the film is when the diner waitress Monica (Claire Forlani), whom Stiller has his eye on, earnestly advises him just to be himself. It is telling (and funny) because the movie honestly means it.

— Will Schmenner (wdschmen at midway dot uchicago dot edu)