Funny Bones MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +3 Content: -1 1/2

FUNNY BONES is a maze of characters exploring the dark side of comedy. The story begins off the shore of Blackpool, England, where a trade of mysterious wax eggs for money is taking place. When the trade goes wrong, two men are pushed overboard. One man is killed and another, Jack Parker (Lee Evans), is abandoned. Cut to Las Vegas where Tommy Fawkes (Oliver Platt) is about to make his debut as a stand-up comic. But the presence of a full crowd and his famous comic father, George Fawkes (Jerry Lewis), is too much. He cracks under the pressure and bombs. Tommy flees in embarrassment to his boyhood home in Blackpool, England. In one last attempt to be funny, he pays to see all the best comics in the city to get some ideas. Here is where Tommy meets Jack and the rest of the Parker clan. But Jack is haunted by flashbacks of his past which are shown in black and white while Tommy is also haunted by happy memories which look like an 8mm home movie. Here is where the plot gets really complicated. Happily, this creative film keeps the viewer guessing right down to the last sprocket. FUNNY BONES will especially appeal to those viewers who enjoy exploring the creative boundaries of the film medium.

When a man is pushed overboard and chopped up in the boat's propeller, his bloody feet are shown on screen underwater along with a blood trail following the boat. Later, they wash up onto Blackpool's shore and are the butt of some of the film's humor. Sadly, there is just enough use of profanity, obscenities and crudities to offend the discerning viewer. Another source of the film's violence occurs in a flashback sequence in which Jack beats another clown with a lead pipe. The man's bloodied head is shown on screen. Perhaps more disturbing than this visual display, however, is the scene's intensity which makes the viewer feel each blow along with the clown. Equally intense is the film's climactic scene, but this one is done without violence and artistically crafted. The “R” rating of FUNNY BONES seems a bit severe, but there are just enough objectionable elements present to merit a negative rating by “Preview.”

Preview Reviewer: Krista Kay Bontrager
Distributor: Buena Vista Distribution, 3900 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91521