Films That You Should Have Watched Yesterday - Rat Race (2001)

The Benevolence Beneath: Overpowering the Root of All Evil With Compassion and Laughter 

          Sylvester Stallone put together an ensemble of the finest, or, at least, the most recognisable action stars in modern cinema history for The Expendables (2010), re-uniting and even later extending that crew in both 2012 and 2014. Almost ten years before, an assemblage of comedy heroes created an adventure that was no less fuelled by fast-paced, passionate endeavours, but of course came with much less of the blood and much, much more of the humour poured into the film-maker mixing bowl. The final, fully-baked result, was Rat Race (2001) - a film, which, similarly to Stallone's work's ability to demand and capture the superfluous indulgence of film fans who considered themselves to be die-hard action buffs, could help to define an unwritten criminal offence, were it not eventually seen by comedy enthusiasts in particular.    

          Plot-lines that are both ostensibly and ultimately ridiculous but defiantly hilarious ceaselessly intertwine throughout the picture, principally due to the fact that all of the characters, portrayed by British comedy icons like Rowan Atkinson from Mr Bean (1990-1995) and John Cleese from Fawlty Towers (1975-1979), as well as American legends of laughter that include Whoopi Goldberg from Ghost (1990), Seth Green from Family Guy (1999-Present) and Cuba Gooding Jr. from Jerry Maguire (1996), never, ever become crestfallen enough to abandon the competition for what they perceive to be the ultimate prize - Money. F. Scott Fitzgerald himself would revel in viewing these beautiful and damned fools pursue such a prize, often at great cost to others as well as themselves, until each of them at some point, fortunately before it is too late, unlike figures in Fitzgerald's literary classics, discovers, in a variety of equally fulfilling forms, the transformative power of utterly selfless compassion for someone else, albeit not before having endured a great deal of hard trials that inspire sounds of laughter that many viewers never knew existed.      

          Time spent in screenwriting classes will quickly bring to light the notion that one ought not to have more than two coincidences slotted into their scripts if the stories that they tell are to be considered believable, or, put less politely, even as far as comedies are concerned, taken seriously. However, here is a movie that shamelessly defies that expectation to the utmost extreme and beyond, yet it still manages to keep audiences ensorcelled by the tale, owing to one of the most charismatic casts ever crammed onto a film set and their boundless levels of energy. More than once will a gag be pulled off in such a way that could only have worked with the particular artist who performs it. Moreover, the consequences of their actions rarely cease to generate at least a smile from the onlookers behind the forth wall and they additionally seldom fail to inspire hope. Hope for redemption, breaking the rules for the right reasons and the innate goodness in people. Thus, the movie depicts a race in which everyone, cast, crew and audience alike, is a wonderfully worthy winner.