Midwestern Gothic

Tagline: Sometimes to get more out of life, you have to make more of yourself.

Most quotable quote: [Doug’s rule for his clones] “Nobody has sex with my wife but me.”

What a great film, eh? Wait, you’ve never heard of or seen it?! How is this possible? This is by far Michael Keaton’s greatest role (after Mr. Mom, of course) and you call yourself a Michael Keaton fan? Oh, you’re not a Michael Keaton fan? This…is…awkward…

Check out the trailer to get reacquainted:

Still not registering with you? To hell with you! I’m going to do my film review anyway! MK (as he’s affectionately known to me) is a gifted man and this overlooked film in the pantheon of all things MK is a great, great piece of work. And, if the aforementioned title isn’t already a dead giveaway, there’s a plethora of MKs in the film! Huzzah, MK fans everywhere unite!The 1996 film was directed by Harold Ramis and it envisions a world where Joe Everybody can waltz down the street and decide willy-nilly that he desires a clone, hop on down to his local medical clinic/hospital and get the job done. Seriously, that simple. Here’s a brief synopsis per the Wikipedia entry:

[MK’s] character, Doug Kinney, is a stressed-out family man who meets up with a scientist who has developed a successful means for cloning humans. The scientist allows Doug to make a clone of himself that can take over for him at work, while he tries to spend some quality time with his family. The clone, called “Two” (while having all the knowledge, memory and experience of Doug), turns out to be overly macho and easily irritated, suffering a residual personality quirk of the cloning process.

Haha! Wonderful. Hijinks ensue, let me tell you. Two eventually makes a clone of himself behind Doug’s back, dubbed, coincidentally enough, Three, a very feminine version of the bunch who has aspirations of becoming a chef. But wait, how can you top three MKs?

Easy. With four! Yes, Three decides his life is too stressful as well and makes a clone of himself named Four, easily the dimmest of the bunch. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “That’s a LOT of MKs!” Yes, but can you really ever have enough MK? Regardless, the man does have some acting chops, as you can see from this clip where Doug first learns of Four’s existence:

Oh boy, oh boy! Such fun.Now, Ramis decided to forgo dealing with any of the moral implications of cloning, rather to focus the film’s momentum on the nature of consciousness and the human soul and he delivers a powerful tour de force of epic and philosophical proportions. I mean, there’s an entire scene where clone after clone sneaks into Doug’s house while he’s away and one by one they are seduced by his wife (after he’s commanded them all to keep their distance from her, played beautifully by Andie MacDowell).

This is not the sort of everyday subject matter most directors can not only envision, but successfully craft. Ramis’ unique vision is asking us, the reader, what does it mean to be cloned? When we’re sad, are we a “sad clone” of our normal self? Does this “sad clone” have the same human rights as the rest of us, and should it? All of this is discussed quite intimately in the film and without MK’s involvement, I dare say, it would be but a stark and hallow version of the masterpiece it became.

My Score (out of five):

Go see this film. I saw it in a bargain bin at the grocery store last week for $2.99 with the purchase of three Lean Cuisine dinners, so I know it’s available. Great, great deal, folks, and it may even change your perception of the world!

Ciao.

By Rob
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