Fathers' Day

Some holidays have more pizzazz, box-office wise, than others. Not quite a year after Independence Day blasted away the competition, Ivan Reitman's Fathers' Day, a remake of the French comedy Les compères, tries to do the same with fewer pyrotechnics. Like its predecessor, it relies less on the story or the holiday sentiment than on the special effects: Billy Crystal's whiplash wit and Robin Williams's manic inventiveness. Fathers' Day won't come close to Independence's success, of course -- the sodden premise dampens its moments of comic inspiration. But the odd couple of Crystal and Williams have their share of laugh-out-loud brilliance.

Crystal is Jack Lawrence, a cynical lawyer accosted by Colette (Nastassja Kinski), an old flame he broke up with 17 years ago. She wants him to track down her runaway son Scott (Charlie Hofheimer), claiming that he's his father. She tells the same story to another former beau, would-be writer and full-time nutcase Dale Putley, who's played with relaxed insanity by Williams. Once the pair shake off this unlikely and smarmy set-up and set off on the mission together, they create some mindless mirth. It might not have the impact of the White House blowing up, but watching the two deal with imaginary road accidents and an annoying mime almost makes up for the inevitable platitudes about fatherhood along the way. At the Campus, Harbour Mall, Holiday, Lincoln Mall, Showcase, Tri-Boro, Westerly, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Peter Keough