Zemeckis and Gale’s movie is really a more restless and visually high-spirited version of the W. C. Fields comedies.

Director/co-writer Robert Zemeckis has undeniable energy and flair, but it's being misspent on pretexts and situations that seem inexcusably gratuitous and snide.

Most of the time, I didn't know whether to laugh or shudder, and I ended up doing a lot of both.

It’s not so much a satire of American business as a wicked lampoon: lie, cheat and steal as the American way, as long as you do it with a sense of fun.