Plowing through the plausibility barrier at breakneck pace, Big Nothing begins as a noirish Office Space but ends up uncomfortably close to Very Bad Things. Sacked from PC helpdesk hell, no-luck schmuck Charlie (David Schwimmer: think Ross plus stubble, minus monkey) is coerced into a “completely non-violent” blackmailing scheme by co-worker Gus (an impressively Yanked-up Simon Pegg). But before you can say Weekend At Bernie’s they’re playing hide-the-stiff as the plan descends into a hodge-podge of stitch-ups and sticky ends. Meanwhile, ADD-style directorial distractions such as freeze-frames, wonky angles and rotoscoped flashbacks ensure that audience disbelief is not so much suspended as ordered to hand over its badge and gun.
The three Pegg-centric featurettes suggest a US breakout of Gervais-sized proportions is on the cards, but it won’t be for this movie. Not big, and only sporadically clever.
DVD Extras:
Audio Commentary, Holy Molely: How Big Nothing Was Made, Simon Pegg Video Diary, The Truth About Simon Pegg.
