Entertainment
Raunchy, Extremely R-Rated Comedy Is A Broke Bachelor’s Worst Nightmare
By Robert Scucci
| Published
The late 90s and early aughts were rife with raunchy comedies, some of which fared better than others. 1998’s There’s Something About Mary was an instant classic that cleaned house at the box office, and 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin marked a return to form for the genre. Those years in between, however, produced some rough entries that are all but forgotten today because they placed too much emphasis on tasteless gags over meaningful storytelling. 2001’s Tomcats is one such film, and it’s honestly a rough watch, but not for the reasons you’d think.
The film’s overall setup, conflict, and story beats are all solid, believe it or not, but they’re simply used as a springboard for as many raunchy gags as humanly possible. If you’re into that kind of thing, you’ll probably have a good time with Tomcats, but I have no qualms saying its 13 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes comes from the fact that most of these gags don’t add anything to the movie. Instead, they pad the runtime with cheap laughs rather than character development.
A Great Wager And Setup
Tomcats starts at a wedding, where a group of bachelors make a wager. They all throw money into a high-yield account, and the last single man standing gets to claim the pot. As time passes and interest accrues, we’re left with two bachelors, Michael Delaney (Jerry O’Connell) and Kyle Brenner (Jake Busey), and roughly $500,000 up for grabs.
After a falling out with his girlfriend, Shelby (Julia Schultz), Michael racks up a substantial gambling debt with a casino pit boss named Carlos (Bill Maher), who says in no uncertain terms that if the money isn’t paid back within 30 days, he’ll be killed. Knowing the only way he can make good on what he owes, Michael hatches a plan to trick Kyle into getting married.
Michael learns there’s only one woman Kyle would ever consider settling down with: Natalie (Shannon Elizabeth), a woman he had a one-night stand with at a wedding years earlier, ditched on the side of the road with a roll of quarters, and thinks of as the one that got away. As it turns out, Natalie works as an undercover officer, knows how to profile people, and agrees to sabotage Kyle’s bachelor lifestyle in exchange for half the winnings. At this point, we only vaguely know about Natalie’s history with Kyle, and the fun comes from wondering whether she’s simply in it for the money or if that’s just an added bonus to a revenge plot she has against him.
From this point forward, it’s basically a sizzle reel of sex gags, gamer words, and even an entire sequence involving a lost testicle at the hospital that adds about 10 minutes but no substance to the story. It will, however, probably make you want to throw up in your mouth. You’ll know it when you see it.
Too Much Funny Equals Not Funny
Odds are, if you’re firing up Tomcats, it’s because you’re looking for some offensive humor to gawk at, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem is that movies like this focus more on the gags than the storytelling, which is a shame. This is exactly the kind of humor I’m tuning in for, but it needs to be anchored in somewhat believable scenarios and carried by people who are at least a little likable.
That’s why There’s Something About Mary and Knocked Up work while this film fails to stick the landing. Michael isn’t necessarily an unlikable protagonist, but he doesn’t have much of a personality either. He’s just a conduit for jokes. Kyle, who’s supposed to be his foil, is the most reprehensible womanizer to ever grace the silver screen, and his exploits are fun to watch, especially when they backfire. But again, he’s just another conduit for jokes that could just as easily be swapped with any other male character in the movie.
It’s almost as if every guy in this movie is based on the same archetype. One’s a little smarter, one’s a little more sensitive, and so on. They’re all variations of the same guy, so whenever a joke needs to be jammed into a scene, anybody can reliably deliver it. As much as this sounds like a good idea, it doesn’t work in a comedy where you’re dealing with some pretty awful people from start to finish.
The romance between Michael and Natalie develops into a satisfying arc, but by the time we get there, it’s one lost testicle, Jake Busey in a thong, and a grandma dominatrix scene too late. There’s simply too much schtick without ever giving you room to breathe.
Is Tomcats a misunderstood classic? Far from it. Is it 13 percent bad? I’m inclined to say no, but I wouldn’t put it above 30 percent either. It’s one of those films that relies on you trusting your own taste and whether you enjoy the talent involved. There are some clever one-liners and sight gags worth checking out, but the whole is far less than the sum of its parts.
As of this writing, Tomcats is streaming free on Tubi.