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1997 American film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Excess Baggage is a 1997 American crime comedy film, written by Max D. Adams, Dick Clement, and Ian La Frenais, and directed by Marco Brambilla about a neglected young heiress who stages her own kidnapping to get her father's attention, only to be actually kidnapped by a car thief. The film stars Alicia Silverstone, Benicio del Toro, and Christopher Walken. Upon release, it was a critical and commercial failure.
| Excess Baggage | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Marco Brambilla |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Max D. Adams |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jean-Yves Escoffier |
| Edited by | Stephen Rivkin |
| Music by | John Lurie |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $14.5 million[1] |
Emily Hope stages her own kidnapping to get the attention of her wealthy, corrupt father, Alexander. Using a gadget that disguises her voice, she instructs Alexander to drop $1 million onto a barge passing under the bridge where he is standing. Alexander does as he is told. Emily tells Alexander that his daughter can be found in the trunk of her BMW 850i, parked in a nearby garage.
Before calling the police to come "rescue" her, Emily tapes her ankles and mouth and hides in the trunk of her car. Police descend on the BMW, but before they can get to Emily, professional car thief Vincent Roche steals the vehicle, unaware that someone is in the trunk. As he exits the parking garage, the police pursue him, thinking he is Emily’s kidnapper. Vincent manages to get away when the police crash into each other. The police also bungle the attempt to recover Alexander's money for him.
Alexander, who must be in Brussels to close a business deal in two days, arranges the help of Emily’s "Uncle" Ray to find her and bring her home. Meanwhile, Vincent discovers the surprise "baggage" when he heads back to his warehouse hideout and opens the trunk. At the first sight of Emily, Vincent slams the trunk shut and resorts to contacting his partner in crime Greg for help on how to deal with his dilemma. Emily escapes from the trunk and finds her cell phone, learning her father has sent Ray after her.
When Vincent returns, Emily accidentally burns down his warehouse with a stray cigarette. The two are forced to go on the run together from Ray and his henchmen.
The film features cameo appearances by voice actor David Kaye and April Telek, both of whom are uncredited.[citation needed]
The script for Excess Baggage was the winner of the first annual Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition where it was picked up by producer Barry Josephson when he was working at Sony Pictures.[2]
This was the first film produced by Alicia Silverstone under her production company First Kiss.[3][4][5] Benicio del Toro was handpicked for his role by Silverstone after she had seen his 1995 film The Usual Suspects.[4]
Excess Baggage was filmed in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.[6]
Excess Baggage debuted in theaters on Labor Day weekend of 1997, opening in the #6 spot.[7] By the end of its run, it grossed $14.5 million domestically.[1]
Excess Baggage received mostly negative reviews from critics and holds a 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Struggling to find a romantic spark in a seedy premise, Excess Baggage is weighed down by a lot of comedic dead weight."[8] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 34 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B‒" on an A+ to F scale.[10]
The Hartford Courant gave a positive review, commenting "What could have been a silly premise succeeds because of the chemistry between Silverstone and Del Toro, who won good notices for his work in 'The Usual Suspects'...Their exchanges are witty and sharply delivered."[11] On the August 30, 1997 episode of Siskel & Ebert, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film two thumbs up, with Siskel labeling it "much better" than Brambilla's previous 1993 film Demolition Man.[12] In his other review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert stated that Silverstone was so "wonderful" and entertaining in Clueless that no followup could possibly satisfy audiences.[13] Ebert mentioned Silverstone is "OK" in Excess Baggage, but "no better than OK" as he felt that she was miscast.[13] James Berardinelli praised the cast but found the script "frustratingly ordinary and unambitious".[14]
Del Toro was nominated for an ALMA Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Crossover Role in a Feature Film.[15] Silverstone was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actress where she lost to Demi Moore for G.I. Jane.[16]
Excess Baggage was released on VHS and DVD in February 1998.[17] It was released on Blu-ray by Mill Creek Entertainment in June 2019, as part of their "I Love the 90s" line. Reviews of the Blu-ray release described the picture and sound quality as "heavily processed" and "a mess".[18]
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