Larger Than Life (1996)
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11% of critics liked it
(18 reviews) -
30% of users liked it
(7,584 ratings)
Bill Murray teams up with his biggest co-star to date (with the exception of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man) in this family-oriented comedy. Jack Corcoran (Bill Murray) is a motivational speaker who makes his living advising others how to tie up the loose ends of their lives, but he has plenty of his… More Bill Murray teams up with his biggest co-star to date (with the exception of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man) in this family-oriented comedy. Jack Corcoran (Bill Murray) is a motivational speaker who makes his living advising others how to tie up the loose ends of their lives, but he has plenty of his own left dangling. Jack is emotionally at the mercy of his mother (Anita Gillette) and his fiancée Celeste (Maureen Mueller), while his booking agent Walter (Jeremy Piven) keeps promising him bigger and better things that don't materialize. Jack has grown up believing that his father died before he was born while trying to rescue a drowning child, but he learns that was not the case at all -- Dad spent a long career working as a circus clown, and died only a few weeks ago. However, Dad was kind enough to bequeath Jack a large stack of debts and his only tangible asset, an Indian elephant named Vera (Tia). Jack is in no position to keep a pachyderm at home, and he has two options for getting rid of the animal -- sell Vera to Terry (Linda Fiorentino), a mean spirited animal trainer, or donate her to Mo (Janeane Garofalo), a zoologist who hopes to return her to the wilds. Either way, Jack has to get Vera from the East Coast to California, and in order to make an important speaking engagement, he and the elephant have five days to cross the country. Larger Than Life also features Matthew McConaughey as an excitable truck driver; Keith David, Harve Presnell, and Pat Hingle also highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Howard Franklin
- Genres
- Comedy, Kids & Family
- In Theaters
- Nov 1, 1996 Wide
- Studio
- MGM Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Rob Nelson, Boston Phoenix
Of course, the elephant Vera keeps sticking her trunk in where it isn't wanted, literally consuming tons of candy and stepping on Murray's cellular phone. Ha ha.
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Staci Layne Wilson, StaciWilson.com
What white elephant?
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Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium
It's hard watching a comic of Bill Murray's talents get upstaged by a bored-looking elephant.
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Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
One of Bill Murray's least enjoyable (and gimmickiest) experiments.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Bill Murray
as Jack Corcoran
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Janeane Garofalo
as Mo
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Matthew McConaughey
as Tip Tucker
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Keith David
as Hurst
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Linda Fiorentino
as Terry Bonura
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Pat Hingle
as Vernon
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Tai
as Vera
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Jeremy Piven
as Walter
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Anita Gillette
as Mom
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Maureen Mueller
as Celeste
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Harve Presnell
as Trowbridge Bowers
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Lois Smith
as Luluna
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Tracey Walter
as Wee St. Francis
