Bullet Points: Osmosis Jones

When you think of the Peter and Bobby Farrelly, action movies probably aren’t the first thing that come to your mind. The Farrelly brothers are usually associated with comedies like Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. When you think about Bulletproofaction.com, live action/animated hybrids are probably not the first things that comes to your mind. Who would have thought that the Farrelly brothers directed a live action/animated action film and that you can find some Bullet Points about it? I would and luckily for you, I just happen to have some Bullet Points for the 2001 live action animated comedy action film Osmosis Jones.

• Monkey Business – Osmosis Jones starts with a chimpanzee scratching its butt. If you are expecting that to be the end of the lowbrow humor you probably should turn off the movie at that point. While the chimp is soothing itself, we are introduced to sad sack zookeeper Frank Detorre (Bill Murray) and his daughter Shane (Elena Franklin). Against Shane’s best wishes, Frank is not a healthy individual when it comes to diet and exercise. In fact, when we first meet Frank, he is slathering mayonnaise and copious amounts of salt on a hard boiled egg. Before he gets a chance to eat his snack, the butt scratching chimp steals the egg and we get our first of many fights (the only multispecies fight) in Osmosis Jones. Frank wins back the egg, but not after it has been in the chimp’s mouth and on the ground of the chimp cage. The audience gets to witness what happens inside of Frank as he eats the dirty egg as the focus shifts to an animated look inside of Frank.

• Fantastic Voyage – Inside of Frank, which is known as the City of Frank and acts just like a real city except with anthropomorphized cells, we meet Osmosis Jones (Chris Rock), a white blood cell who is a member of the police force. Osmosis Jones is not well respected in the City of Frank because he once caused Frank to puke all over Shane’s teacher even though he was correct in his actions. The mayor of the City of Frank is Mayor Phlegmming (William Shatner, Land of the Free) and he is in the middle of a re-election campaign against Tom Colonic (Ron Howard). Phlegmming’s only motivation is to keep Frank happy in order to garner votes. It is with that motivation that causes Phlegmming to make Frank only take a cold pill instead of going to see a doctor after getting sick from the egg. The cold pill is known as Drix (David Hyde Pierce) and he is becomes the straight laced cop paired with the freewheeling Osmosis Jones.

• Red Death – The dirty egg allowed a extra special virus into Frank by the name of Thrax (Laurence Fishburne, Fled). Fishburne is the standout performer in Osmosis Jones and makes me want to see the actor play the villain ever more. Even in animated form, the character exudes evil as he is trying to break his personal record of killing a person in under 48 hours. With Osmosis Jones not being well respected and the mayor only concerned about votes, nobody believes Osmosis Jones about the danger of Thrax… nobody but his opposite Drix as we enter the buddy cop portion of Osmosis Jones.

• Animated Action – You might be thinking that there can’t be much action in animated fare, but it is the exact opposite. Animation allows the filmmakers to show scenes and stunts that would be impossible to be done practically (like seeing inside of Bill Murray). Osmosis Jones has everything you could want in an action film, shootouts, car chases, steam room fights, surfing a snot wave, and the highlight fight that takes place in a zit that has the explosive ending you would expect. Osmosis Jones is one of the bloodiest movies you will ever see (one of the main characters is a white blood cell) and it has an incredibly unique and epic gruesome death by fake eyelash.

Osmosis Jones is a peculiar entry in the action movie universe because of how the movie jumps from live action Frank to animated City of Frank and the parties involved. The reason it works is because the animation is very good with some top notch voice talent. The movie leans heavily on childish gross out humor with farts, zits and poop jokes aplenty, however, there is enough action to keep the blood flowing. This Bullet Points, just like the movie is going to end on a farticsm, “Did you ever try to blow dry your hair with a fart?” If you are still jonesing for a little more Osmosis I do have some Osmosis Jones Bonus Bullet Points.

• Directing Credit – While the Farrelly brothers are the credited directors, their work was limited to the live action portion. The animated portion was directed by animation superstars Tom Sito and Piet Kroon.
• Best “Oh, It Is Rated PG” Quotes – “Up spit creek without a paddle.” And, “Holy spit.”
• If You Ever… – Wanted to see Bill Murray standing in his underwear in a classroom full of children while another man devours chicken wings than Osmosis Jones is for you.
• Familiar Voices – The Kidney Stones, a band inside of Frank made up of kidney stones is voiced by Kid Rock and his band with backing by Joe C. in a posthumous role. The role of mayor’s aid and Osmosis Jones love interest Leah is voiced by singer/actor Brandy Norwood. Osmosis Jones even mistakenly calls Leah Brandy before correcting himself.
• Familiar Faces – Frank’s brother is played by funny man Chris Elliott who is reunited with his Groundhog Day co-star and There’s Something About Mary directors. Shane’s teacher is played by funny woman Molly Shannon.
• Soundtrack – The soundtrack in general is a highlight of Osmosis Jones… especially if you are into early 2000s hip hop and R&B.
• Checklist Fodder? – Osmosis Jones was popular enough to spawn an animated television series entitled Ozzy & Drix.