You'd think advancements in cloning science would at least give these kinds of zany comedies a bit more substance. Yeah right. This boy's fantasy stars Ali Landry as Kate, a gorgeous medical journalist covering a story on a cloning lab at UCLA, where Max (Roday) struggles under the shadow of the incompetent Dr Jonas (Levy). But Max does all the work, really, with his goofy best pal/work partner Henry (Askew) and wussy assistant/nemesis Felix (Anderson). Then Max accidentally (this can only happen in a movie) clones Kate and the hilarity begins as he and Henry programme Repli-Kate to be more of a man's woman ... liking beer, sports and sex more than make-up and shopping.

Oh how humorous. This amateurish film feels like it was written by 9-year-old boys who didn't even bother to think about how cloning actually works and just rewrote Weird Science for the Dolly the Sheep age. There's not a shred of coherence in the story, the acting is embarrassing (Levy just about keeps his head above water with his Groucho-from-hell performance), and the lame moral is laid on with such a heavy hand that it hurts. Not to mention the sweeping misogyny. It also tries to balance between family comedy and gross-out farce, never quite deciding which side of the fence to come down on. There's too much rude stuff to avoid an R rating, but it never goes far enough to really satisfy that audience. Yes, there is the odd funny moment (best gag: a passing reference to a genetics lab in Rome called "Gen-Italia"), but it's more like an inept attempt to create a cartoonish '60s-style comedy with its undulating cloning machine causing so much wacky mayhem while girls cavort in revealing lingerie for no real reason. Honestly, it wouldn't take much to actually include a tiny hint of logic, not to mention creativity or originality, to make this otherwise lively film more watchable. But these 9-year-olds didn't bother. Their parents must be so proud.

adult themes and situations, vulgarity, language

11.Jul.01

R E A D E R   R E V I E W S

Mickey, Manchester: "Very impressive and very seductive!" (3.May.02)

Mike, Los Angeles: "Saw a sneak preview in an L.A. screening; I have no idea what became of the final version that Mr Cline may have seen. All I can say is the version I saw was seriously hilarious and can't imagine it changing that drastically; there was never a dull moment and was never afraid to push the limit on taste. But in my humble opinion, suceeded. The audience laughed the entire movie and 'got' that the film wasn't about being scientifically correct." (30.May.02)

Rick Y, Singapore: "Big Fun! Best teen movie in a while. May have the funniest sex scene(s) ever caught on film. Lousy opening but otherwise a great fun ride." (8.Jun.02)

Trinity C, Finland: "I laughed so hard it hurt! Finally a comedy that doesn't pretend to be something it's not. Just light hearted, good natured fun, we're gonna make you laugh film without being pretentious. Trust me, there are some really, really funny scenes (many)!" (26.Jun.02)

Jean, Tennessee: "this is the funniest movie i have seen in a long time. really really good...." (29.May.04)