17) Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

(2.5 's out of 5)

"I never noticed how important it is to be seen."

Director

John Carpenter

Cast
Chevy Chase - Nick Halloway
Daryl Hannah - Alice Monroe
Sam Neill - David Jenkins
Michael McKean - George Talbot
Stephen Tobolowsky - Warren Singleton
Jim Norton - Dr. Bernard Wachs
Pat Skipper - Morrissey


Despite the term "invisible man" in the title of the 1992 sci-fi comedy "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" as well as the movie's obvious nod to Director James Whale's 1933 movie based on the book "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells, I have to emphasize the word "an" also in the title. It's the memoirs of "an" invisible man. It's not "the" invisible man. 

The character that is the Invisible Man tends to be linked horror despite Well's story being a science fiction book. The 1933 film maintains a bit of that science fiction feel. The 2020 remake of "The Invisible Man" has a much heavier sci-fi tone than the original film. Yet they're both thought of more as horror movies likely due to Both versions keep the story's dramatic side, however.  

"Memoirs of an Invisible Man" is based on the novel of the same name by H.F. Saint which has been described as a thriller. Regardless, this movie has all the feels of science fiction with thrilling elements thrown in. So, I'm posting my thoughts about it on this platform. 

In this movie Chevy Chase plays stock analyst Nick Halloway who's working out in San Francisco. After work one evening, he heads to his favorite high-end club for a drink.
There, he runs into his buddy, George Talbot (Michael McKean). George introduces Nick to a friend of his, Alice Monroe (Daryl Hannah) whom Nick takes a keen interest in. 

She works as a documentary producer and the two hit it off really well. In fact, they both set up a lunch date. 

Nick ends up getting drunk that night, and has a nasty hangover the next morning, Still, he has to get to a company shareholders meeting at Magnascopic Laboratories. 

During the meeting, he sneaks off to find a place to sleep off some of his hangover. He finds a quiet spot in someone's empty office. 

Meanwhile, some lab tech accidentally spills his coffee on a computer, which causes a shortage that leads to a small explosion. 

Some kind of fluke of science occurs resulting in parts of the building turning completely invisible, including Nick.

This odd situation grabs the attention of corrupt CIA agent, David Jenkins (Sam Neill), along with other agents, while they investigate the invisible building. 

Nick panics as he tries to wrap his head around what just happened to him. After all, he suddenly can't see himself as he moves objects around. Jenkins sees these objects moving by themselves, obviously meaning someone turned invisible. 

They rescue the invisible Nick out of the building and place him in an ambulance. 

While he's in the ambulance, one of the agents makes a comment about how Nick will be studied by scientists for the rest of his life. 

Naturally, Nick freaks out even more at this notion and escapes. 

Rather than inform CIA headquarters, Jenkins decides to pursue Nick and turn him into the ultimate CIA secret agent. 

Nick goes on the run, trying to hide from Jenkins and his CIA stooges. They've already broke into his apartment in an attempt to locate Nick. So it's no longer safe there. Instead, he hides at the club, and then approaches Dr. Bernard Wachs (Jim Norton), who was speaking at shareholders meeting at the time of the incident, to ask him if he can reverse his invisibility. 

From there, he hides out inside George's beach house out near San Francisco, unbeknownst to George. In fact, no one except Jenkins knows he's invisible. They don't know what has become of Nick.  

Jenkins gets a hold of Nick's background information and considers him a nobody - somebody who was already invisible before he literally became so. 

Nick sneaks into Jenkins office, which is more like a villain hideout, and tries to see what information they have on himself. 

Jenkins eventually figures out Nick is in there and tries to talk him into recruitment. But Nick is appalled at the thought of killing people. 

However, Jenkins goes out of his way capture Nick and force him into the CIA's service. Meanwhile, Nick frantically tries to figure out a way to live as an invisible man, and be able to support himself in this unfortunate situation. He reveals himself to Alice shortly after she, along with George and a couple of their friends, suddenly arrive at the beach house for a vacation. They have no idea he's as they settle in for a few days. 

The only interesting parts of the movie are Chevy Chase function as an invisible man, and the early special effects that surround that, as well as watching the two main characters work out a 

Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah in "Memoirs of
an Invisible Man."

relationship under these unusual circumstances. 

A lot of those invisible man details are clever, such as one scene in which the audience can see cigarette smoke fill Nick's lungs. In another scene, Nick sees the Chinese food he's eating start digesting in his stomach, which makes him throw up. 

Everything else in the story seems contrived, which is weird when considering the movie is about an invisible man. Sam Neill's CIA character, and the entire villainous CIA agents, act more like mafia thugs than actual agents. They get in the way of the story, despite the sense it makes that government officials would take keen interest in a man who's suddenly invisible. This plot point is badly written. 

In fact, if the CIA agents weren't so villainous nor such a big part of the story, and the film focused more on Chase trying to function as an invisible man along with Daryl Hannah's character trying to work out their relationship, the movie would be more memorable and entertaining. With Chase being cast in the lead role, less chasing would leave more room for him to be the comedian he's good at being. The way the story is, he's forced to focus more on surviving and escaping capture than throw in more comedy. It also doesn't give Chase and Hannah enough time to work off of each other. What a shame!

The movie doesn't need this evil, sinister antagonist from beginning to end. 

All "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" has to depend on for its entertainment value is the invisible man parts, and the special effects.