Big Stan

Big Stan is a 2007 American prison comedy film starring, produced and directed by Rob Schneider in his directorial debut.[2] Co-starring Marcelo Ortega, Jennifer Morrison, Scott Wilson, Henry Gibson, Richard Kind, Sally Kirkland, Jackson Rathbone, M. Emmet Walsh and David Carradine. This film was Gibson's final role before his death in 2009.

For the Chicago skyscraper nicknamed "Big Stan", see Aon Center (Chicago).
Big Stan
Promotional poster
Directed byRob Schneider
Produced by
Written byJosh Lieb
Starring
Music byJohn Hunter
John Debney (themes)
CinematographyVictor Hammer
Edited byRichard Halsey
Production
company
Distributed bySony Pictures Home Entertainment
Release date
  • November 5, 2007 (2007-11-05) (KBS Premiere Pictures Festival)
  • March 24, 2009 (2009-03-24) (United States)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7.5 million
Box office$8.7 million[1]

Although released in some markets during the fall of 2008, it was released straight to DVD in the U.S. on March 24, 2009. It debuted at number 17 on the DVD rental charts of March 23–30, 2009.

Plot

Stan Minton (Rob Schneider) is a wealthy real estate con artist, married to Mindy (Jennifer Morrison). One day, he is found guilty of conning elderly people out of their savings. His lawyer Mal (Richard Kind) defends him at the trial. Upon being found guilty and sentenced to 3 years in prison, he's given 6 months by Judge Perry (Richard Riehle) to get his affairs in order. Stan's fear of jail-house rape leads him to hire the mysterious guru known as "The Master" (David Carradine) who helps transform him into a martial-arts expert.

During his incarceration, Stan uses his new-found skills to intimidate his fellow prisoners and prevents the prisoners from hitting or raping each other. He gains their respect, and eventually becomes their leader, bringing peace and harmony to the prison yard. But the corrupt warden Gasque (Scott Wilson) has plans to force its closure with a riot, and sell off the property as valuable real estate. Stan helps him with the real estate aspects in exchange for early parole, however his peacemaking efforts threaten the warden's plan for a riot and he is persuaded to bring back violence.

In a last minute attack of conscience, he deliberately blows the parole hearing to rush back and prevent the deaths of his fellow inmates, only to discover that his message of peace has sunk in and the prisoners are dancing instead of fighting. Warden Gasque orders the guards to open fire on the dancing men. When they refuse, he grabs a gun and shoots wildly. Warden Gasque attempts to shoot Minton, but he is stopped by Mindy and the Master, who had snuck in.

Three years later Minton leaves the prison, which is now run by one of the more sympathetic guards, as Gasque is now an inmate after he was arrested for his illegal activities. Stan is met by his wife, his young daughter Mindy Jr., and the Master outside the prison.

Cast

Rob Schneider's mother Pilar cameos as one of the Board of Governors. Wes Takahashi, former animator and visual effects supervisor for Industrial Light & Magic, makes a cameo appearance as a bartender.[3]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 11% based on reviews from 9 critics (1 positive, 8 negative), with an average rating of 3.02/10.[4]

Julie Rigg of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was highly critical of the rape-based humor, and concluded " I wasted two valuable hours of my life on Big Stan—don't make the same mistake."[5] Writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, Paul Byrnes asked "If there's been a clumsier, dumber, more casually put together collection of badly timed gags, racial stereotypes and lazy performances this year, I have yet to see it...How could [Schneider] be in so many movies over a 20-year career and learn so little about making a movie?"[6] Brian Orndorf of DVDTalk.com called it "a forgettable, unfunny waste of time". He criticized the "unrelenting" repetition of rape jokes, but believed that Schneider acted the character's fear of rape convincingly.[7]

However, MovieHole rated it 3.5 out of 5 and called it Schneider's best film since The Hot Chick.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Big Stan". Box Office Mojo.
  2. Dawtrey, Adam (18 May 2007). "MGM is big on Sky's 'Big Stan'". Variety.
  3. "Subject: Wes Ford Takahashi". Animators' Hall of Fame. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  4. "Big Stan (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  5. Rigg, Julie (November 27, 2008). "Big Stan". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  6. Byrne, Paul (November 29, 2008). "Big Stan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  7. Brian Orndorf. "Big Stan". DVD Talk.
  8. Clint, Caffeinated (6 November 2008). "Big Stan". Moviehole.net.
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