Big Stan (2008)
By Shane Rivers
With many films, the opening five minutes provide a fair indication of what you can expect the rest of the way. In Big Stan, that time consists of sleazy real estate developer Stan Minton (Rob Schneider) conning an elderly, wheelchair-bound woman into paying for a timeshare condo in a bad neighborhood. He does this by implying the local ethnic male population goes crazy over white women, regardless of age (or mobility). As the senior citizen becomes aroused, Minton promises her that she’ll be “awash in a sea of negro cock.” If you find that last part offensive, just go ahead and skip Big Stan, as things only get worse from there.
After being arrested and tried for fraud, Stan is sentenced to several years in prison, although his corrupt lawyer (M. Emmet Walsh) bribes the judge and gains him six months to “get his affairs in order.”. Convinced he’s going to be raped by his fellow inmates, Stan uses the time to study the martial arts. Things don’t go so well at first, but then he meets The Master (David Carradine), an eccentric, chain-smoking sensei who turns Stan into a lethal, yet diminutive, weapon.
When he finally goes to prison, the hardened criminals don’t stand a chance. Stan beats up blacks and white supremacists alike, eventually establishing his own code of conduct for the inmates. But this doesn’t sit well with Warden Gasque (Scott Wilson), as he’s planning for the prisoners to become so unruly that the facility is shut down, thus allowing him to profit from a flimsy scheme involving buying and developing the land where the prison sits.
Billed as an “anti-man raping” film, Big Stan consists largely of sophomoric humor revolving around sexual relationships between male prisoners. At first, it’s silly enough to draw a chuckle or two, but it becomes quite tiresome after a time. The same goes for the self-indulgent scenes of Schneider kicking ass and intimidating the much larger inmates. I understand that we’re supposed to laugh at little Rob beating up the convicts, but, once again, it’s a premise that quickly wears thin.
One of the few bright spots of the film is David Carradine (I can’t believe I just wrote that line). As The Master, he plays a larger-than-life parody of many of his martial arts roles, and everyone else is so unfunny that he winds up looking like a comedic genius.
Sports fans will have a decent time trying to spot all the athletes cast in the production. Names to look for include: Bob Sapp, Randy Couture, Ahman Green, Don Frye and the late Diego Corrales. If you know who these guys are without running to Wikipedia, then you might get a bit more amusement out of Big Stan than most.
There’s a good reason why Big Stan never played at theaters in the United States: it stinks. While audiences in Kazakhstan (no kidding) and Turkey were no doubt delighted by the comic stylings of Rob Schneider, American audiences may be quickly catching on to the fact that he cranks out lowbrow entertainment which appeals to the least common denominator. If you’re a serial rapist, you might find Big Stan hilarious; anyone else may feel as though their wallet has just been violated.
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This Big Stan movie review is copyright 2009 Small World Marketing and Shane Rivers. This Big Stan review should not be reprinted without the permission of the copyright holders.
This movie review of Big Stan expresses the opinion of the author only. Other Big Stan movie reviews are available online, and some of those might or might not express different opinions on the movie. Like those other Big Stan movie reivews, this Big Stan review is intended for the entertainment and education of the reader. This Big Stan movie review is provided as is with no warranty or guarantee implied.
[...] Big Stan – This is among my favorite reviews that I’ve written. I was thrilled to work in the line, “If you’re a serial rapist, you might find Big Stan hilarious.“ This Rob Schneider comedy is billed by the star as an “anti-man raping film.” If that’s not a high comedy, then I don’t know what is. [...]
[...] films should provide an instructive look at the world of shivs and shower rape. And don’t worry…Big Stan is not on the [...]