Live-action (and Industrial Light and Magic) blow-up of the crudely drawn TV cartoon show, from Hanna-Barbera, set in suburbia, 2,000,000 B.C. The actors affect a 1950s sitcom, or 1930s vaudeville, style of performance: purposely primitive. And the dialogue strives for the cheerfully cornball: "What's his name?" "Bamm-Bamm." "Is that short for something?" "Bamm-Bamm-Bamm." Or again: "When I think of the sacrifices your father made for you! Lambs, oxen, your brother Jerry...." And the dinosaurs and such are nearer to Jim Henson than to Ray Harryhausen. You can see the sense of the creative decisions, except maybe the decision to make the movie in the first place. You cannot, though, see the sense of the storyline. An embezzler at the Slate & Co. rock quarry needs a fall guy, so he administers an aptitude test to the manual laborers. Barney Rubble, to repay a debt to his best friend Fred, switches tests with him, and Fred, getting the highest score, gets the promotion. "Finally it all makes sense!" exclaims Mrs. Betty Rubble at one point. No, it doesn't. With John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O'Donnell, Elizabeth Taylor; directed by Brian Levant. (1994) — Duncan Shepherd
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