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By STEVE PERSALL
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 31, 2001
Is this a trick question?
Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito have enough combined clout to make MGM change the title of their new movie. What's the Worst That Could Happen? is a terrible idea. The title, that is. We'll get to the movie later. Any comedy labeled the best or, especially, the worst of anything is already convincing viewers to like the movie less for ridicule's sake. What's the Worst That Could Happen? doesn't need any help, judging from preview trailers. Lawrence and DeVito play loud, obnoxious crooks double-crossing each other. Big Momma gets Shorty: That's the best than can happen, and a better title.
Animals have agencies protecting them from humans, but nobody protects humans from movie ideas like The Animal. Formerly funny Saturday Night Live star Rob Schneider plays a sad-sack security cop injured in an auto accident, then re-built with organ transplants from a variety of wildlife. He gets the legs of a cheetah, the aquatic skills of a dolphin and the hots for a goat. Turkeys have small brains, but Schneider won't trade up. Preview trailers look lowbrow and lame. Pop culture overload alert: TV sweetheart Colleen Haskell cashes in on Survivor celebrity with her acting debut as Schneider's love interest. Any joke imagined from that set-up is funnier than he can write.