A noted black author (Samuel L. Jackson), mistaken for a prowler in his own house, is pinned down by the local Keystone Kops, and police chief Dabney Coleman tries to cover the goof by giving white trash petty criminal Nicholas Cage a loaded shotgun so he can pretend to hold Jackson hostage for a few minutes. Why Coleman didn't think to begin this unlikely charade at the moment of arrest is anyone's guess, but Cage (of course) plays it for real, with entirely predictable consequences. This is one of those strictly formula comedies built around an escalating series of misunderstandings, the first of which is the assumption that the average intelligence of its target audience is somewhere around the kindergarten level. Bright spots are provided by Brad Dourif in one of his reliable psycho supporting roles, and by Bob Balaban as a touchy-feely criminal psychologist (doing a perfect imitation of Fred Rogers crossed with Leo Buscaglia). Otherwise this witless farce offers further proof that you can't trust any movie advertised on the side of a bus: it's not even smart enough to qualify as dumb fun.
Review of Amos & Andrew
