Jack Corcoran (Bill Murray) is a mildly successful motivational speaker on the lower end of the trade-show circuit. At his engagement party, he finds out his long-believed-dead dad has only recently died, leaving him a large inheritance. Of course, Jack doesn't know how large until he meets a suspicious lawyer (Harve Presnel) who unloads Dad's prized possession: a four-ton circus elephant named Vera (Tai). Larger Than Life is a buddy-road movie. Murray uses his old tricks to bully or con several people into helping him, including a whacked-out truck driver (Matthew McConaughey). In this day and age of digital effects, Murray could be teaming up with Roger Rabbit or some other special effect; his interplay with Tai is quite natural. Director Howard Franklin codirected the underrated Quick Change with Murray, and it's clear they work well together. A curio in Murray's career, this film is effective and fun family entertainment, filled with good-natured ribs, bubble-light dramatics, and a scene-stealing elephant. She's a charmer. --Doug Thomas
