The Big Bang

IRS records used to make some interesting quirky music, and as IRS films they also made some interesting quirky movies. Well I don't think IRS is around anymore, but every now and then something will pop up that reminds of films like "The Blue Iguana," or "Motorama."  Certainly, "The Big Bang" would have felt right at home in the IRS line up.

The film begins on a noirish note.  Private detective Ned Cruz (Antonio Banderas) is temporarily blind, beaten all to crap and is being interrogated by three very irate cops.  Seems there are a lot of dead bodies and Ned's in the hot seat.  It wouldn't be the first time.  He's the type of private detective where a case can in with a flying, flaming albino dwarf.

His current case he took reluctantly.  Seems an ex boxer, ex con, permanent mountain (played by pro wrestler Robert Maillet) has lost his girlfriend and wants her found.  Since this guy is both ultra strong and stupid (he's the type who'd take a dive in fight AFTER he killed his opponent), Ned felt obligated to take the case. 

So it starts as a standard private eye story, but then things go wonky.  It starts when he is talking to Snoop Dog who's playing a cat named Puss making porno in a place called Schordinger's warehouse.  As he describes the plot of latest opus, you realize he has created the first quantum physics porno.  That might have been isolated weirdness, but then we wind up at Planck's Constant Diner.  Suddenly, it's clear that physics is somehow bound up in this case.

Indeed, Sam Elliot soon becomes part of the plot as a crazed industrialist who's seeking the God particle.  He's built an "off the shelf" collider and in a few days is going to set it off even it means the risk of creating a black hole.  So, what's the connection between physics and missing persons?  Why are people ending up dead after Ned talks with them?  Who is the mysterious missing girlfriend?  What does thirty million dollars in diamonds have to do with it?  These questions and more, our stalwart detective seeks the answers to.

This is a good film.  Not only well written and shot, but it has a cast that just boggles the mind.  Sam Elliot usually plays salt of the earth types, so it's interesting to see him play a character who's nasty and crazy.  He keeps tilting his head as if he's listening to what the Earth has to say.  Antonio has a nice understated performance that works well with his private eye character.  Robert Maillet is just a force of nature.  I won't rate him as an actor (I don't want to get hurt!) but he's one of  those screen presences that just overwhelms everyone else in the scene.  A lot of big guys sort of look like the gentle giant type, but not Robert.  I'm convinced that if he hit me, my brother in seattle would feel it.

Definitely worth a watch if you are willing to entertain some odd thoughts!