Je M'Appelle Crawford

source: Je M'Appelle Crawford

I felt surprise as I lingered on this movie while channel-surfing, it seemed to be far from any interests of mine, but, as I watched I realized that far from it, this movie says as much about the human condition, the indomitability of the spirit, as many other pieces of cinema. Charmingly acted, humorous, and in the end as satisfying as The Natural, The Big Tease is a funny and smart little film, well worth watching, with a winning hero and hateful villains. Bravo!

The screenplay is very witty, and everyone in the cinema was laughing out loud. Acting is good in all parts, but Craig Ferguson has real screen presence. 'Stig' is a particularly malevolent champion, and even the gormless looking bellboy seemed right for the part - who was he?

THE BIG TEASE (2000) ** Craig Ferguson, Frances Fisher, Mary McCormack, David Rasche, Chris Langham, Donal Logue, Larry Miller, Jay Thomas. (Cameos: Veronica Webb, Drew Carey, David Hasselhoff, Cathy Lee Crosby, Bruce Jenner) Blame it on `This Is Spinal Tap' for the unindation of the `mockumentary', the hybrid of comedy and documentary unto its own genre, for the latest attempt of poking fun with deadpan serious masking with the occasionally humorous `The Big Tease'. Crawford Mackenzie (Craig Ferguson, best known as the unctuous British boss on tv's `The Drew Carey Show', who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sacha Gervasi) has more moxie than anyone would expect from a somewhat flamboyant Scottish hairdresser who finds himself the subject of a BBC documentary filmmaker (Langham who gives the air of deadpan a new definition) and is invited by the industry's high echelon the World International Hairdressing Federation (aka WHIF) to Los Angeles for the annual World Freestyle Hairdressing Championship. In his own charming way Crawford embarks to Lotus Land thinking he's to represent Glasgow as a competitor but is soon informed by WHIF's oraganizer Monique Geingold (McCormack, who has the uncanny knack in being a real phony with comic aplomb) he was invited to be in the audience. Not taking no for an answer the indefatigable Scotsman attempts to get his HAG card (that's Hairdressers of America Guild) by any means necessary even resorting to his competition, the pompous ass Nordic god of the salon set, Stig Ludwiggssen (Rasche, a good sport hooligan in a ridiculous hair extensioned wig), who dismisses him like a knot in one's hair. Adding some gumption and support to Mackenzie's starry-eyed quest is high powered Hollywood publicist Candy Harper (the wonderfully tart and no bull Fisher) who takes him under her wing after his attempt to get Sean Connery's phone number from her (he once helped the fellow Scot during a windy mishap with his toupee during a Benny Hill Pro/Am Golf outing) and instead gives her a sparkling makeover.. Ferguson - who is so good as the devilishly naughty Mr. Wick on the `Carrey' program - at least gives the impression of having a good time onscreen (and it shows) which seems to bounce off nicely from his assembled cast including veteran stand up comic Miller as a recovering alcoholic manager of a posh Beverly Hills hotel (`I've been clean and sober for five.days'), McCormack - best known as Howard Stern's long-suffering wife in `Private Parts' - is a charming bitch with not one honest bone in her well manicured body, and Logue as a player wanna be limo driver is memorable. Funny in its execution but gradually losing its bearing in the climactic `hair off' - for a lack of a better term - the film's concept seems one note and often has the unkindly air of flop sweat with its too lingering shots on the desperate hair stylist in his dream becoming a nightmare.

No one will mistake this as art, or even a mainstream film. But what it is is fun, campy and entertaining. The stereotypes are plentiful, and so are a few belly laughs. Not the best movie I've seen this month, but far from the worst. See it for what it is, light and fun with a few jabs at the hairdressing work.

The Big Tease is a surprisingly fun little movie about hairdressing as a competitive art form. This is done in the fake documentary form as Drop Dead Gorgeous was. The plots between the two movies were pretty similar, showing the competitive nature between the hair stylists or the beauty pageant contestants. Crawford Mackenzie (Craig Ferguson) is the up and coming gay hair stylist from Glasgow, Scotland who has received an invitation to compete in Los Angeles for the coveted "Platinum Scissors" award. Mackenzie is delighted and gets a documentary crew together to document the events, which, as you might assume, will get a little embarrassing to be documented. The first mishap to take place is the fact that his credit card has been maxed out, unexpected to Mackenzie because he believed the participants expenses were taken care of. Second, he finds out that he was not invited to compete, but to watch. That would be pretty embarrassing in itself, but Mackenzie takes it upon himself to earn his HAG card (Hairdressers of America Guild) so he can become eligible to compete. Stig Ludwiggssen (David Rasche, and the reason I rented the movie) is the main competition for Mackenzie and comes off as a pompous jerk, like Ted McGinley's character in Revenge Of The Nerds (who, coincidentally, is Stig's agent in The Big Tease). Also, Drew Carrey makes a cameo as himself, but with a full head of hair and raves about Mackenzie's work, which for some reason I found pretty funny. Between Drew's and Rasche's hair, I do not know which was more out of place. I am still used to remembering Rasche as the straight laced Sledge Hammer. Overall, a fun little movie if you do not go into it expecting much. If you are satisfied with Drop Dead Gorgeous, I do not see any reason you will not like The Big Tease. 6.5/10

There's something indefinable about this movie that I adore... I don't know whether it's the superb performances by Ferguson and Langham, or the great script, or the wonderful camoes (Larry Miller is a genius)... Whatever it is, this is a great movie - one of those movies that you want to watch over and over. Why isn't Craig Ferguson a bigger star? Just comparing his role in this movie with his "Mr Wick" character on the Drew Carey show proves that he's one of the most versatile and engaging actors around.

If you stick with it this is a very funny film. Don't be put off by the plot - a misguided Scotsman attempts to crash a mythical hairdressing Olympics. It's a very human comedy about identity and self-worth. Filmed in a documentary style, which takes a few scenes to get used to, it really only hits its stride when the hero Crawford lands in the US. From there it works very well, tilting at various American showbiz windmills. I saw one of the co-stars, Mary McCormack, recently in "High Heels and Lowlifes", and surfing her name in the database reminded me of this little gem. If it's in your local video store, and you enjoyed Spinal Tap or Local Hero, you should try it.

I ran into this film on one of the comedy stations on cable and I found it to be very funny and fun. What caught my attention was alot of actors faces I've seem before -- but didn't know the names and the parts they were playing were just priceless -- so far away from what they USUALLY play which is what made this film so much fun for me. Even as I checked the listing of credits here at IMDb, there are a few folks I saw in the film that are not listed. I don't know why, maybe because they have only a short time on screen, but their appearances were humorous. This is a funny "Rocky" for the hair styling world. A talented hair stylist from Scotland gets what he thinks is an invitation to the crown prince competition of World Hairdressers that is held in Los Angeles. He decides to film his stay and competition in Los Angeles, documentary style. He flies to Los Angeles and finds out, painfully, is what he actually got was just an invitation just to sit in the audience! Try as he might, he is told he cannot compete...and just to get rid of him, he's told that he has to be a member of the Hair Stylist Union to even be considered, and so his LA adventure begins. The film is fun as "via documentary style" we watch him run into everything LA has to give, including HIS hair styling idol who is a real snot!! The sheer will of this character trying to "beat" the system is fun to watch and at the end, you're happy for him. I recommend this fun little film highly. It's an undiscovered gem.

source: The Big Tease