Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

March 21, 2025 6:35 AM

[TRAILER] Nick Halloway (Chevy Chase) is callow trader who spends every minute he can binge drinking, chasing women, and otherwise being a shallow ass. He meets the girl of his dreams (Darryl Hannah) but before they can go on their first date, he has to cover an investor meeting at a research company. Sneaking off to sleep off an hangover, a lab accident turns him as transparent as his personality. Government operative David Jenkins (Sam Neill) is determined to catch Nick and turn him into a government asset. John Carpenter directed this adaptation of the novel by H.F. Saint.

Also starring Michael McKean, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jim Norton, Patricia Heaton.

Directed by John Carpenter. Screenplay by Robert Collector, Dana Olsen, William Goldman. Based on the novel of the same name by H. F. Saint. Produced by Bruce Bodner, Dan Kolsrud. Cinematography by William A. Fraker. Edited by Marion Rothman. Music by Shirley Walker.

28% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

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posted by DirtyOldTown (6 comments total)

Even if Chevy Chase weren't repellent, it would be tough work to hope that this "transparent" douchebag could find the solution to his invisibility and go back to trading and being a rich asshole. Darryl Hannah's part may as well be credited as "The Girl."

Carpenter has some fun with the nitty gritty of invisibility, with the sequence where it takes effect--unevenly, with part but not all of a building no longer visible--being particularly fun. But that and the little details from the book that seep through aren't enough to salvage this.

There's just no reason to care about Nick Holloway, no reason to believe Hannah's character does much of anything she does, and, after that first sequence, not enough wow sequences to carry the thing without that interest.

This is the kind of clever germ of an idea (the irony of people going from figuratively seeing through you to literally seeing through you, as well as the practical complications of invisibility) that Donald Glover could turn into an entire TV series, but this film is wheezing well before its 97 minute runtime is over. Also... while I am the staunchest possible advocate for practical effects, this kind of story cries out for CGI and that technology would do a far better job.

Also: there's a straight up black/brownface sequence where Nick uses makeup and a headwrap to make himself visible enough to pretend to be a cab driver.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:39 AM on March 21 [1 favorite]

It's not like I haven't voluntarily watched Chevy Chase movies, or have never enjoyed them, but now whenever I see that he is or has been in a movie I always wonder how bad the experience was for his co-stars.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:58 AM on March 21 [2 favorites]

John Carpenter: "Ugh. Chevy Chase.... I wanted to quit the business after working with him."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:07 AM on March 21 [5 favorites]

Yeah that clip is famous. This is a shit movie.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:24 AM on March 21

Gotta wonder just how much (or hell, if even) the nearly universal disdain of his colleagues wears on Chase. Swear I've never heard a kind word about the man and at least Bill Murray seems to be fun, sometimes.
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:00 AM on March 21

This came out my last year of high school and, as a Carpenter fan, I was all "This is my JAM!" and hustled myself to the theater.

It was not my jam.

I don't remember anything about this movie other than I did not enjoy it all, and I have never felt the urge to revisit it. Sounds like that's still the right call.
posted by mrphancy at 6:36 PM on March 21