Without a Paddle

Even a paddle can't keep this movie from sinking.

While striving for a bit of liberalism (ain't we City types the real stoopid ones) almost every scene then throws in the towel and falls back on a clutch of unfunny country-livin' clichs.

But what can you say about any picture where the bear puts in the best performance and is the most talked about entity in the movie's own press kit?

Without has all the freshness of moldering Playboys stashed under a mattress, but it evokes what few boys-will-be-boys larks can: chumminess.

How do you siphon the laffs from a surefire gut-busting premise like city slickers stuck in the sticks? ... you assemble a cut-rate Three Stooges, inject tired '80s nostalgia and some moralistic goo about carpe-ing the diem.

Shepard, Green and Lillard have good chemistry, and this bodes well considering there are three characters to play off each other rather than just two

Maybe the filmmakers should have called the picture Without a Laugh.