Main Cast: Bill Murray, Molly Shannon, Chris Elliott, Elena Franklin, Chris Rock, Laurence Fishburne, David Hyde Pierce
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, the impish impresarios of gross-out comedy, take their body function-inspired humor to new extremes in this mixture of live action and animation. Bill Murray stars as Frank, a zoo worker suffering from the effects of an unknown malady he contracted after eating an egg contaminated with simian saliva. Unknown to Frank, the inside of his body is actually a city (the City of Frank) teeming with cellular life, where the mysterious illness he's fighting is an invading enemy that must be defeated at all costs. It's up to Osmosis Jones (voice of Chris Rock), a white blood cell cop, and Drix (voice of David Hyde Pierce), a rookie over-the-counter medication, to hunt down and stop a lethal virus (Laurence Fishburne) who's got an inferiority complex. Along the way, the partners visit Frank's runny nostrils (Booger Dam) and a bar called, appropriately enough, the Zit. Osmosis Jones costars Molly Shannon and Chris Elliott, and features the vocal talents of William Shatner, producer Joel Silver, and singer Brandy Norwood. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
More than a decade after the seamlessly eye-popping blend of live action and animation that was Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), this box-office turkey putters along unimaginatively, cutting back and forth between the two. Long before its conclusion, this gross-out comedy has already run out of gas, both literally and figuratively. It's to be expected that the barons of bodily function humor known as the Farrelly brothers would be responsible for a film filled to the brim with jokes inspired by puke, acne, mucous, flatulence, digestive juices, and more. The difference between this film and some of the merry pranksters' other work is that here, it's just not funny -- it is truly, horribly disgusting. Bill Murray, as a hygienically challenged zookeeper, tries to muster the energy to mug briefly in his truncated scenes, but it seems the veteran comic pro knows how lame the end result will be and sagely sleepwalks through the proceedings. Although he manages to demonstrate he's got a pulse, vocal co-star Chris Rock becomes as annoying as nails on a chalkboard, his screeching, babbling patter eventually merging into a deafening sonic whine. Nobody emerges unscathed from this brain-dead pile of guano, one of the year's top must-miss titles and a picture that will be hard-pressed to entertain even pre-pubescent boys. To see Osmosis Jones is finally to understand why they called such lowbrow shtick "gags." ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Chris Elliott - Bob; Elena Franklin - Shane; Brandy Norwood - Leah; William Shatner - The Mayor; Danny Murphy - Zookeeper Superintendent; Kid Rock - Kidney Rock; Ron Howard - Tom Colonic; Joe C; The O'Day Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Maura O'Brien - Emergency Room Nurse; Marlene Malone - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Barbara O'Connor - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Grady O'Connor - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Danny Mann; The Oberholtzer Family - Science Fair Family; Emily O'Donnell - Science Fair Contestant; Ken Olson; Emily O'Day - Volcano Gal; Colleen O'Donnell - Docky's Clamshack; Diana O'Donnell - Science Fair Contestant; The Madigan Family - Science Fair Family; Sherry Lynn; Bruce McIntyre - Pea Soup Staff; Ruth Meyer - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Mone Family - Docky's Clamshack; Brian Mone - Police Officer; "Stuttering" John Melendez; Mickie T. McGowan; Hector Mercado; Bob O'Brien - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Mandy Marsh - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Jillian Nicewicz - Docky's Clamshack; Jo Ann Ninewicz - Docky's Clamshack; The Murphy Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Joe Murphy - Bikini Gang; The Neville Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Jack McCullough - Zookeeper; Anne Lockhart; Nikki Tyler-Flynn - Nurse #2; Paul Tuerpé; Uncle Kracker; The Urann Family - Science Fair Family; The Sumner Family - Science Fair Family; Keri Tombazian; Steve Susskind; The Tom Beauchene Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Sullivan Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Morgan Wentzell - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Jacqueline Wentzell - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Winans Family - Science Fair Family; Robert Wisdom; Chandler Vuillemier - Volcano Gal; The Vuilleumier Family - Science Fair Family; Kathy Wege - Volcano Lady; Bill Wade - Pea Soup Staff; Warwick West Side All-Stars - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Mattie Ostiguy - Emergency Room Nurse; Jesse Peter - Laughing Boy; The Perry Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Peterson Family - Science Fair Family; Chris Phillips; Lynne Redding; Paul Pape; Zak Penn - Emergency Room Doctor #3; Marilyn Pasekoff; The Pelham Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Amy Suhay - Bikini Gang; Dick Silva - Science Fair Contestant; The Shields Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Herschel Sparber; Doug Stone; The Reske Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Ripley Family - Science Fair Family; Dick Rubin - Bikini Gang; Al Rodrigo; The Roy Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Woodgate Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Bo Cleary - Pea Soup Staff; Paul Christie; Diane Conrad - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Judy Conrad - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Brianna Cabral - Volcano Gal; The Charpentier Family - Docky's Clamshack; Michael Carven; The Cavallo Family - Science Fair Family; Nancy Byers - Pea Soup Supervisor; Buzz Dunn - Science Fair Contestant; Docky - Bikini Gang; Laura Dunn - Science Fair Contestant; Willy Dunn - Oyster Boy; Eddie Barth; Rodger Bumpass; Antonio Fargas; Donald Fullilove; Richard S. Horvitz; Rif Hutton; Art Kimbro; Joyce Kurtz; Helen Britten - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Sidney Bartholomew Jr. - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Zen Gesner - Emergency Room Doctor #1; Eddie Frierson; Sean Fitzgerald - Police Officer; Carlos Alazraqui; Steve Berens - Stunts; Marc Hyman - Emergency Room Doctor #2; Keith Anthony; Allison Barbieri - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Tom Barbieri - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Bill Beauchene Family - Science Fair Family; Jimmie Bones; Nicole Brathwaite - Volcano Gal; John Britten - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Sally Ann Brooks; The Brown Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Brumley Family - Science Fair Family; The Buechs Family - Science Fair Family; Anna Byers - Bus Girl #2; Grace Costa - Emergency Room Nurse; The Coughlan Family - Science Fair Family; The Curran Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Janis Dardaris; Wendy Dillon; The Dunphy Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Catherine Dunphy - Volcano Gal; Stefanie Eulinberg; Bob Fennessey - Zoo Visitors & Staff; The Ferguson Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Jackie Flynn - School Janitor; Kena Flynn - Science Fair Contestant; Kevin Flynn - Docky's Clamshack Waiter; Maryjane Foy - Docky's Clamshack; Kathryn Frick - Nurse #1; Krista-Jean Froand - Science Fair Contestant; Sean Gildea - Dreamy Photographer; Jackie Gonneau; Shannon Gregory; Patricia Guiggey - Bikini Gang; The Hallowell Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Jamie Heres - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Jimmy Heres - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Heidi Hetzel - Bikini Gang; Erica Johnson - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Elizabeth Jordan - Nurse #3; Kelsey Jordan - Bus Girl #1; Thomas Jordan - Zoo Visitors & Staff; Allison Kacmar - Science Fair Contestant; Christina Kacmar - Science Fair Contestant; Rachael Kasner - Bikini Gang; The Kouri Family - Zoo Visitors & Staff; George Kouri - Bikini Gang; Jason Krause; The Krupa Family - Docky's Clamshack; Ben Stein - The Doctor; Joel Silver - The Chief; John-Eliot Jordan - Pea Soup Manager; Jonathan Adams
Credit
Piet Kroon - Animation Director, Tom Sito - Animation Director, Bobby Farrelly - Director, Peter Farrelly - Director, Randy Edelman - Composer (Music Score), Sidney Bartholomew Jr. - Production Designer, Steve Pilcher - Production Designer, Mark Irwin - Cinematographer, Zak Penn - Producer, Bobby Farrelly - Producer, Peter Farrelly - Producer, Bradley Thomas - Producer, Dennis Edwards - Producer, Marc Hyman - Screenwriter, Harry Sabin - Supervising Animator
