a self-absorbed British black man who runs for mayor of the city and wins
two self-absorbed young guys who love dressing up and killing people
three self-absorbed sexy girls who chatter endlessly and go to lots and lots of parties
one big fat self-absorbed crude older guy who wallows in his crude self-absorption
and our hero, Nick, whose own self-absorption leads him from selling underwear in NY City to posing as an upcoming artist

Good satires bring out the substance of the film--the satire--with sharp punchy interaction between the characters. That's nowhere in evidence here. The only interaction that occurs between the characters is typically dopey and one-dimensional and stale. You get tired pretty fast watching this film because no effort's been made to flesh out any character at all by making him/her real. Because a film is a satire does not mean that the characters are shallow and meaningless, but that seems to be the modus operandi here.

If by giving all characters that personality the filmmaker wants to show how shallow LA itself is, he should look to L.A. Story, Steve Martin's far more successful parody of LA. While not a great film, L.A. Story does have some very funny scenes that illustrate the superficiality that LA is (e.g., the scene at the outdoor cafe with everyone ordering ridiculous variations of a latte).

The good scenes in L.A. Story work because there is convergence of the characters on a point of satire. In Larceny, there is very little if any convergence. The film goes from one damn thing to another, hoping the viewer will laugh at the random shots the film/filmmaker takes at whatever and whoever he finds to take a shot at.

With much sharper writing this could have been a better film.


Offbeat parody of life in LA   March 26, 2004
Lleu Christopher (Hudson Valley, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Larceny is a film that rehashes some very familiar comedic cliches about Los Angeles. Yet, despite its flaws, I enjoyed the film's quirky energy and willingness to be silly and bizarre. Joshua Leonard plays Nick, a young man who works in a mall and has no particular direction in life. When he takes an art class to impress the cute teacher, his complete lack of talent quickly exposes him. So, when his cousin Chris (Andy Dick) invites him to stay at his Beverly Hills mansion, he has nothing to lose. Nick finds all kinds of absurd and sometimes amusing adventures on the West Coast. The parodies of airhead wannabee actresses, hipsters who constantly talk on their cell phones and a life dominated by cars, cafes and parties has certainly been portrayed before (most notably perhaps in L.A. Story), but Larceny does have its moments and has a zany edge lacking in most mainstream films. The rapper Heavy D is quite funny as Charlie, a playboy with no visible means of support. Cousin Chris turns out to be a nutcase who is convinced a serial killer is targeting him. Chris demands that Nick find the killer, which leads to all kinds of improbable scenarios. The running joke of the film is that the talentless Nick must pose as a famous New York artist and no one in the celebrity-crazed LA culture questions this. The story, such as it is, fizzles out at the end, with explanations that don't make sense when earlier scenes are recalled (of course, many films with much bigger budgets also have this shortcoming). Overall, Larceny is an entertaining film that would have been even better with a little more focus on the script. The cast also has Kate Jackson as Nick's mother and Bellamy Young as Kiki, a reporter who is a romantic interest for Nick.