Larger Than Life

Motivational speaker Jack Corcoran is struggling to book the kind of engagements that would make his career, so when he learns his estranged father has died and left him an elephant named Vera, he sees a way out of his problems rather than a responsibility. The inheritance comes with debts and damage costs, and Jack's plan is simply to get rid of the animal as quickly as possible. Two interested parties emerge: Mo, a blunt zookeeper, and Terry, a Hollywood animal trainer who wants Vera for film work. Either way, Jack has to travel across the United States with a multi-ton elephant, and the journey gradually turns the reluctant heir into something closer to a friend to his charge.

Howard Franklin directed the film, his third feature after Quick Change and The Public Eye, from a screenplay by Roy Blount Jr. Bill Murray leads as Jack, with Janeane Garofalo, Matthew McConaughey, Linda Fiorentino, Pat Hingle and Jeremy Piven among the credited cast of 24. Made for around 30 million dollars, it returned roughly 8 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.6/10 from 346 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 5.5/10 from 158 votes; a critics' score of 4.2/10 from 18 reviews places it below both audience measures.