Excess Baggage (1997 film)

Plot

Emily Hope (Alicia Silverstone) stages her own kidnapping to get the attention of her father. She puts herself into the trunk of her own car (a BMW 850i), tapes her legs and mouth, handcuffs her hands and calls the police so they can come "rescue" her. But then, unexpectedly, a car thief named Vincent Roche (Benicio del Toro) steals the car with her in it. Suddenly, Emily finds herself actually kidnapped, only the kidnapper doesn’t know what to do with her. Christopher Walken shows up as Emily’s Uncle Ray, Jack Thompson as Emily’s father, and Harry Connick, Jr., as Greg, Vincent’s car-stealing partner.

Cast

The film features cameo appearances by voice-actor David Kaye, April Telek and Matthew Robert Kelly, all of them uncredited.

Production

This was the first film produced by Alicia Silverstone under her production company First Kiss and was filmed in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. The yellow leather jacket worn by Silverstone's character was sold to actor/stand-up comic Paul Rawson for $890. The jacket also came with Silverstone's black suede pants and lipstick print t-shirt. Silverstone was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actress where she lost to Demi Moore for G.I. Jane.

Casting

Benicio del Toro was hand-picked for the role by producer Silverstone after she had seen The Usual Suspects (1995). It is also reported that Silverstone and del Toro dated around the time of filming. Del Toro was nominated for an ALMA Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Crossover Role in a Feature Film.

Christopher Walken previously worked with del Toro in two other films, Basquiat (1996) and The Funeral (1996). He would later star in Blast from the Past (1999) with Silverstone two years later. "I don't know why everybody thinks he's so crazy," Silverstone noted. "I think he seems so adorable. I think maybe I was his mom in a past life or something." Del Toro stated that the best advice he had ever been given regarding acting came from Walken: "When you're in a scene and you don't know what you're gonna do, don't do anything."

Reception

Excess Baggage debuted poorly in its opening weekend. By the end of its run, it had only grossed $14,515,490 based on a $20 million budget.

The film received mostly negative responses from critics and currently holds a 32% 'Rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Clint Morris noted that the film "Outstays its welcome after a while, but Silverstone fans will still be in heaven - she's as cute as ever, and as cool as ever.". Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, mentioning that Alicia Silverstone was "wonderful" in Clueless which was so entertaining that no followup could satisfy the audience. Ebert mentioned Silverstone is "OK" in Excess Baggage but "no better than OK" as he felt that she was miscast. James Berardinelli praised the cast but found the script "frustratingly ordinary and unambitious". Many critics praised Benicio del Toro's performance. Del Toro earned an ALMA Award nomination for his performance.