Los Angeles Times
"...SENSELESS is a terrific showcase for Marlon Wayans, a master at mugging and physical comedy....It's a laff riot that also contains a torrent of scathing social satire..." 02/20/1998 p.C6Chicago Sun-Times
"...[Wayans is] talented and has unbounded energy..." 02/20/1998 p.36 San Francisco Chronicle 7 of 10
Senseless is lightweight stuff, but it's good lightweight stuff. It's made by a director who knows comedy, working from a script founded on a surefire slapstick premise. And it stars an actor with the charm and talent to bring it off. Marlon Wayans, the youngest of the Wayans brothers, turns out to be the actor in the family... Marlon gives a performance. He plays Darryl, an economics student from a New York ghetto who wants to get ahead and make money. To earn a few bucks, he volunteers to be a guinea pig for a drug that increases by 10 times the acuity of his five senses. That one gimmick -- woven around a story involving his competing for a $60,000-a-year job as a "junior analyst" -- is all Senseless needs. From there it's all pratfalls, sight gags and bits of business involving super senses... This is comedy by the book, but sometimes the book is OK. First we see how horrible it is to have super senses. Then, as Darryl gains power over his abilities, we see the advantages. Wayans is not only able to do the wild physical comedy...he can also do the quieter moments, sniffing out and rescuing a perfect rose from a trash can and presenting it to his new girlfriend. Director Penelope Spheeris and Wayans understand that for the gimmick to work, Darryl can't be a type -- he must be a person. Darryl becomes a sympathetic fellow, trying to be a good son while doing his best to present himself as an upstanding young man to his girlfriend (Tamara Taylor) and his potential boss (Rip Torn)... The 25-year-old actor is not yet where he's going to be in five years, but he's already worth watching. - Mick LaSalle
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