Starring:
Dave Sheridan as Frank McKlusky
Kevin P. Farley as Jimmy
Cameron Richardson as Sharon Webber
Enrico Colantoni as Scout Bayou
Dolly Parton as Mrs. McCluskey
Randy Quaid as Mr. McCluskey
Orson Bean as Mr. Gafty
Joanie “Chyna” Laurer as Freeda
Kevin Pollak as Ronnie Rosengold
Tracy Morgan as Reggie Rosengold
Andy Richter as Herb
Scott Baio as Himself
Lou Ferrigno as Himself
Isaac Hanson as Himself
Jordan Taylor Hanson as Himself
Zac Hanson as Himself
Emmanuel Lewis as Himself
Dominique Moceanu as Sports Commentator
Pat O’Brien as Himself/Announcer
Gary Owens as Himself/Announcer
R. Lee Ermey as Jockey Master
Special Features:
None Other Info:
Widescreen (1:85:1) – Enhanced For 16×9 Televisions
Running Time: 83 Mins.
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Captions Subtitles, Spanish and French Subtitles
Synopsis:
Frank McKlusky grew up watching his daredevil father perform stunts. One day when a stunt accident puts his father into a coma, his life changes. Two unscrupulous lawyers, the Rosengolds, file a frivolous lawsuit against the McKlusky’s that prevents them from getting insurance coverage for their father’s medical treatment. Frank’s mother also goes nuts and becomes a safety freak. She raises Frank in an ultra-safe environment and makes him wear a helmet.
As an adult, Frank vows to help fight insurance fraud. He becomes a Claims Investigator (hence the C.I. in the title) and uncovers fraudulent claims by people. Frank and his partner Jimmy use a number of disguises to do their investigating. When he and his partner begin investigating a claim by Scout Bayou, things turn ugly. Jimmy ends up being murdered because he gets too close to the truth. It’s up to Frank and his new partner Sharon to uncover what is going on.
“Frank McKlusky, C.I.” is rated PG-13 for language and crude and sexual humor.
The Movie:
Usually when a movie goes straight to video, it means that it sucks pretty badly. This is no exception.
If I had to describe this movie, I’d have to say it was an “Ace Ventura, Pet Detective” rip off starring a Jim Carrey wannabe. Dave Sheridan looks and acts like Carrey, but he’s never quite as funny. He has a few humorous routines in various disguises like a gymnast or a Hanson groupie, but otherwise he never draws a laugh out loud response like Carrey does. The plots of the films are similar, too, with both main characters investigating crimes against an absurd cast of background characters. Both even have small animal sidekicks.
This movie had a lot of potential, but it fell flat almost all the time. McKlusky has an amazingly diverse supporting cast including Dolly Parton, Randy Quaid, Kevin Pollak, and more. While most of them aren’t terribly interesting, Andy Richter frequently steals the show as the office bully Herb who has a dark secret. The movie is also filled with tons of cameos by stars such as Scott Baio, Emmanuel Lewis, Dominique Moceanu, Pat O’Brien, Gary Owens, and R. Lee Ermey. Hanson even has a brief cameo in a concert scene. Why they all agreed to appear in this movie, I’ll never know. I guess they needed the money. Chyna even has a supporting role that turns rather embarrassing by the end. Her gimmick is that her character wears the tackiest celebrity outfits from previous years. Of course everything hangs out. By the end of the movie she’s seen wearing a Catwoman outfit and utters the following line to Scott Baio: “Wanna touch my boobies?” Yes, it’s that bad.
It’s easy to see why this one went straight to video. It is filled with all sorts of offensive content. The movie makes fun of the disabled, blacks, homosexuals, Asians, and more. Besides that, it’s just unfunny. It varies between trying to be a kid’s movie to trying to be an adult comedy. For example, once scene shows a guy smoking and black faced after being blown up. Later on we are treated to a kid yelling out profanities and Dolly Parton warning her son about catching STDs from his new female partner. The creators needed to either make this entirely a kid’s movie or an entirely adult one. The final result has a split personality that makes it unbearable.
The Extras:
This DVD had no extras at all which is probably a good thing.
The Bottom Line:
I would not recommend this movie at all. Not even as a renter. Save yourselves. It’s too late for me.
