Head and Shoulders shampoo is an effective weapon

 EVOLUTION

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Originally viewed on July 3rd, 2001

The beauty of comedy is that there are no rules and, quite simply, rules are

made to be broken in the comedic arena. Director Ivan Reitman is often aware

of this, as evidenced by his crude though subtly funny "Junior" and, his biggest

hit, "Ghostbusters." Both films redefined the boundaries of good

taste by imbuing crudeness with cleverness rather than cheap, desperate gags

a'la "Austin Powers" that only serve to make the audience puke. Consider

Arnold Schwarzenegger as a pregnant man in "Junior," a premise that is otherwise

ripe for gross-out humor. Instead that film built its premise with wit and

engaging repartee between Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

"Evolution" does the same thing, imbuing crudeness with cleverness. The premise

deals with a community college science teacher (and former scientist), Ira Kane

(David Duchovny), who partners with a sharp, jocose scientist, Harry Block 

(Orlando Jones), to investigate a flaming meteor that has burned a hole through 

the ground into an underground cavern. Kane's class goes on a field trip to discover

and study this meteor only to find some strange atmosphere has developed at an

accelerated rate, not to mention some expanding and evolving wormlike creatures. 

Kane and Block realize this is no ordinary meteor - it is a fertile ground for alien 

creatures. At first, the creatures seem harmless in the form of butterflies until they 

later evolve into flying dinosaurs, raging blue monkeys and some shapeless 

matter in the form of large intestines.

The only way to approach "Evolution" is by checking your brain at the entrance

door of the cinema before the first reel is projected. It is a one-note joke

movie to be sure but it has moments of eye-opening special-effects, shrewd 

one-liners and moments where you will literally jump out of your seat. It mostly pokes

fun at "Independence Day" right down to the climax involving those humongous

 intestines where a central digestive tract is the target for destruction - the 

expansive mass even looks like a spaceship. Mostly, the screenplay by David 

Diamond, David Weissman and Don Jakoby focuses on bodily functions and 

sexual entendres, as well as creepy monsters hiding inside harmless looking 

alien slugs and such. Many of the sexual entendres center around Julianne 

Moore as an assistant to a soldier-scientist (Ted Levine) - she is regarded 

at one point as an "icy goddess in desperate need of some humping." 

Speaking of the ravishing Moore, it is nice to see her as a clumsy woman

 who keeps tripping over objects every once in a while.

"Evolution" is cutesy nonsense and often quite funny and engaging. It is

actually a breath of fresh air as compared to the gross-out humor so reminiscent

of most comedies nowadays - wit and some dry humor are this

film's virtues. As for performances, Duchovny and Jones make a delightful pair

and Moore is lots of fun to watch - nice to see her handle comedy for a

change in contrast to her dramatic roles. Only Ted Levine seems a little out

of his element as the straight-faced soldier scientist, Dr. Woodman, who

doesn't want Kane anywhere near these aliens.

"Evolution" is not as frantically funny or as visually inventive as Reitman's

"Ghostbusters," but it will suffice in what has been a dry couple of years

of laughless comedies.