Safe Men is a modest comedy spoofing Mafia, mistaken-identity, and buddy movies. Zahn and Rockwell play a pair of talent-free singers who are mistaken for safecrackers by a guy named Veal Chop, the henchman for crime boss Big Fat Bernie Gayle. Thrust into a war between "the only two Jewish gangsters in Providence" [Big Fat and Good Stuff Leo (Harvey Fierstein, charming as always)], the boys must crack three safes or they'll have their heads cracked. Meanwhile, Sam falls for Leo's daughter... whose obsessed ex is one of the pair of REAL safe men.
The film is a little slow getting started, but it gradually builds to giddy silliness, culminating in Little Big Fat Bernie Gayle Jr.'s bar mitzvah. There's also a hilarious spoof of the "In Your Eyes" scene from Say Anything that's worth the price of admission on its own. Everyone in the film is kind of goofy-looking (excepting Zahn) and none too bright, a nice change from, say, Elizabeth Shue playing a rocket scientist.
Rockwell and Zahn have terrific chemistry between them, and they're appealingly doofy. Sadly, Zahn is more restrained than usual, and Rockwell, thanks to a god-awful haircut and a padded butt (you heard me), is not the yummy dreamboat he was in Lawn Dogs.
Safe Men is a good film to see if you're in a goofy mood. It's better than much of what you'll see out there; on the other hand, it won't lose anything in the transition to video.
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