The Big Tease (1999)

Director:  Kevin Allen

Writers:  Sacha Gervasi, Craig Ferguson

Composer:  Mark Thomas

Starring:  Craig Ferguson, Chris Langham, David Rasche, Frances Fisher, Mary McCormack, Donal Logue, Kevin Allen, David Hasselhoff, Drew Carey, Cathy Lee Crosby, Bruce Jenner, Melissa Rivers, Charles Napier, Larry Miller, Sara Gilbert, Ted McGinley, Jay Thomas

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  He saw. He combed. He conquered.

Plot:  lamboyant Glasgow hairdresser, Crawford Mackinzie, gets a letter from the World Hairdresser International Federation inviting him to its prestigious annual contest in L.A. Filmmaker Martin Samuels is making a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Crawford; he and the crew go too. After maxing out his credit card at the Century Plaza Hotel, Crawford discovers he's been invited to participate in the audience, not the contest; he tries every angle imaginable to get in the competition: he phones fellow Scot Sean Connery, he gets a union card, he asks the reigning champion for help, and he connects with Connery's publicist, who's having a bad hair day. Will he succeed, for the little people?

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Nah.

Craig Ferguson's now defunct late night talk show (that followed Letterman) was hilarious. The show was an hour long (including commercials) show and for the first few years he spent the first half hour just talking and telling jokes to the audience.  Half the show was just him interacting with the audience!  I can't see any other late night hosts pulling that off and succeeding.  Later they brought on some stupid puppet for him to interact with but it was a step down; the man was charismatic and funny enough without it.  The camera loved him.  If you don't like him then you won't like this movie.  He's a lot of fun as Crawford Mackenzie, Scotland's finest hair stylist (or so he believes).  I found this flick very funny with a few laugh out loud moments. 

Lately I've been frustrated with the number of movies I've been watching that run out of gas a third in and then pick up steam in the last few minutes.  Not this one.  The funny keeps going until the credits roll.  When it comes down to it, it's just a comedy taking the piss out of the glitzy showbiz world of the top hair stylists in the world. The cast is great.  There are no weak links here.  Outside of Ferguson, my favorites are David Rasche as Crawford's nemesis, Stig, and the always amazing, Charles Napier.  There are few actors I genuinely miss after their passing and Napier is on it.  I dig that guy's works.  What a mug!