Elijah Wood

Performer for Our Time

CHAIN OF FOOLS
(2000)

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Chain of Fools - Review

Edward C. Patterson, site owner

Annie Graham, copy editor

Chain of Fools? Comedy of Errors? Hard to say, except this extremely entertaining farce with a stellar cast and intelligent script engages the viewer at every turn. No lulls—no dry spots. Unfortunately, there’s no heavy themes as well—except a thread that life is worth living and it can be lived without the benefit of three ancient Chinese coins called the Shiny New Enemies. Chain of Fools, released on such a limited basis most people still know nothing of its existence, has grown in popularity since its 2000 release through increased viewership, especially from the fans of some of its stars—particularly Elijah Wood.

The comedy is dark, somewhat racy and at times downright bizarre—but in the good sense of that word (??). Lines and moods are juxtaposed to get a laugh. The characters are—well, a chain of fools, from the accidental killer barber, the ne’er-do-well entrepreneur, the centerfold police detective, the teenage hit man—to the drag-queen nurse and her gangster boyfriend, the spelling-challenged mobster and the insane boy scout leader. Mix them all together, you get—mixed nuts and a great deal of true entertainment. Who needs a theme when you have a plot so circuitous and convoluted that you need a score card to ride the roller coaster. Fortunately, as I mentioned, the script is clever and smart. The visual application supports the premise, if there is one; and most important, the cast is sound to superlative.

The star, Steve Zahn turns in a strong performance as Kresk the lousy barber—comic, desperate and likeable. He’s a lovable loser and we root for him. His antagonist, Salma Hayek, as Detective Kolko, whose claim to fame is her spread in Playboy, provides a solid foil to Steve Zahn’s desperate bid to sleep with her. David Cross’s Andy, the overgrown Boy Scout leader, bumbles well through his role with several funny moments, particularly when he brings a young scout to an avalanche of tears over tying a box knot.

The bad guys are zany and energetic. Tom Wilkinson as the pompous, out of place Bollingsworth exudes humor. His versatility runs the gamut from his zany comments at the heist to his hiring of an unlikely hitman. It’s a shame his character is in a coma for the majority of the movie. Jeff Goldblum’s gangster, Avnet, is snaky and treacherous. We’re glad to see him downed by a pair of accidental scissors to the neck and a Pastrami on Rye in the face. Other good performances (in some case fleeting) are turned in by Kevin Corrigan as Paulie, the local mobster; David Hyde Pierce as the insidious Mr. Kerner; Orlando Jones as an over-the-top drag queen, Miss Cocoa, and Lara Flynn Boyle as Kresk’s ex-wife, Karen.

Chain of Fools would probably be just another solid Indy comedy if it were not for the phenomenal performance of Elijah Wood as Mikey, the teenage hitman. Wood’s intelligence focuses on the unlikely character, casting him against type. But, once again, Elijah Wood inhabits his character to grab every scene its in and turn it into the glue that transforms a B+ film into an A+ one. Elijah Wood projects a steel force character in a handsome, kid’s body to the point we forget the kid and believe the villain. Then, he surprises us by resuscitating the kid, so much so, when he disappears from the film, the remaining fifteen minutes is just so much anti-climax. Wood provides the funniest scenes in the film from his assassination of a state politician (we are given three different versions), to his atonal response to suicide. We get hitman wisdom from a toilet seat and a Sartrian discussion of life and death during a hit. Elijah Wood may not be the star of Chain of Fools, but he is the most iconic link in this farcical bracelet.

Without a doubt, Chain of Fools is underrated, because it never received a wide-screen release. For Elijah Wood fans, it was made in the shadow of Frodo Baggins and could have very well gone unnoticed like that other gem of gems released (or not released) during the same period, The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. In any case, the quality of a film should never be judged by the quantity of its viewers. If I were the only person to see this work, I would still give it an A+ as one of the smartest, nearly flawless films to commence the 21^st Century.