Chain of Fools (2001)

Please don't spend money on this.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

"Chain of Fools" is one of those zany ensemble-cast spoofs on crime films. The "Fools" include Selma Hayek as a Playboy-posing police sergeant; Steve Zahn as an incompetent barber; Jeff Goldblum as a generic stylish thug; Elijah Wood as the world's youngest hit man; David Cross as an overgrown Boy Scout (literally); Tom Wilkinson as a vengeful wealthy industrialist; Orlando Jones as a beefy transvestite; and Lara Flynn Boyle as a treacherous ex-wife.Normally I love ensemble films, and this particular one had a great cast (well, Steve Zahn didn't particularly shine in this film, even though he has the most screen time). The problem with CoF is the parts aren't strung together that well. The plot is mediocre, the editing is haphazard and the story doesn't flow too well at moments.But the characters do provide quite a few laughs themselves. So it's better than your average schlocky comedy.7 out of 10.Barky

This started off a little slow, but quickly accelerated to a very quick pace. It went so fast for the last two thirds of the movie that you really had to pay attention to get everything. The twists are great, and incredibly funny. The plot is pretty good, not brilliant but allows for some very funny twists, and some unbelievably funny, but fairly unlikely, very complicated, situations that will make you laugh for several minutes without stopping for a breath, provided that you like black humor. The actors all do pretty good jobs, even Elijah Wood, who I normally hate with a passion, pulled off an entertaining performance. There weren't really any of the actors I was heavily disappointed by. All of the characters were funny, in their own, twisted sort of way, most of them are either caricatures or stereotypes, but they work really well together. The humor was great, most of the time, though some of the jokes fell flat, but most of it was a treat for fans of black comedy(like me). The sparse number of action scenes there was, were really great. The movie has a very good fast pace throughout most of the movie, there was hardly any moment where I was bored. The movie has some scenes that take place on a non-linear timeline, especially in the beginning, but the moment these are over, the film finds a better pace. This is not to say that these scenes were bad, in fact I find them to be a great start to the film. Overall, the movie was quite good, but some of the humor seemed to be more there to shock than to amuse, some of it did seem over the top. It could have been better, had the humor been more balanced and had more of the characters been believable and likable. In the end, the movie has some great laughs, but that's about it. It's easily forgettable. I recommend this to pretty much any fan of black comedy. It's not the best, but it's a pretty good one. If you're not easily offended, and you like black humor, it's worth checking out. 7/10

Traktor try to make this film like "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" but it's so simple not complex, not funny, not excite Too many Stars, but useless if you love Elijah wood, don't see this movie

This is basically a "laugh at the losers" episode flick in the vein of "Short Cuts", without the pretension and with a healthy dose of Quentin Tarantino thrown in for good measure (sans the nastiness and macho violence.) Chain of Fools boasts the essential (for this type of movie) array of crooks and oddballs; from Jeff Goldblum's psychopathic rent-a-thief character to Elijah Wood's adolescent aspiring hitman.The film is uneven, which is probably a result of the relative inexperience of the director(s). There are several scenes that just feel pointless, and the Bollingsworth character could have used a little polishing, but on the whole the movie is thoroughly enjoyable. Steve Zahn is great as the loser protagonist, Elijah Wood shines as the hitman wannabe, Jeff Goldblum turns in a solid performance and sexy Salma Hayek once again demonstrates she can do a lot more than just look pretty and dance with snakes.Chain of Fools is no Pulp Fiction, but it has got an endearing quality all of its own. If Tarantino and the Coen brothers were to do a movie together I imagine you would get something a lot like this.I give it 7/10, where Pulp Fiction is a 10/10 and The Big Lebowski is a 9/10.