Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. There are a lot of funny people associated with the film HOT ROD this summer. So why aren’t the early reviews we’re getting more satisfied?
Hey Harry, et al. Bungion Boy back already. Last week I was lucky enough to see “Superbad,” one of the funniest comedies in recent memory. Tonight I was lucky enough to see… er, Will Arnett? Unfortunately it was at a screening for “Hot Rod,” the starring film debut of Andy Samberg. Samberg and Arnett were in attendance, along with Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch. Good to see them. I’ve been watching Saturday Night Live ever since I’ve been allowed to stay up late. I guess that’s about 1988. Although it’s certainly not what it used to be, it’s a piece of comedy and television history and I will never stop watching it. Short films had been a big part of SNL in the past, what with Albert Brooks in the 70’s and several more in the 80’s which resulted in an SNL special in which the films were reviewed by Siskel and Ebert. But then they seemed to vanish until two years ago when Samberg joined the cast and seemed to revive them. Many of them are really hilarious and I have some friends who watch SNL now for the sole purpose of seeing the digital short of the week. The laughs I had gotten from them were enough to make me curious to see how Samberg faired in “Hot Rod.” Well? The results are mixed. Hmmm. Mixed? Now I’m just being polite. The story involves a young dreamer who wants to be a stuntman, just like his father. We see just how realistic these dreams are in the first scene when he tries to jump a mail truck on his Moped. With what looks like bad special effects, he crashes and almost kills himself. The joke (singular) of the movie is that he’s not very good. Oh. And he wears a fake moustache because he can’t grow one of his own. Remember the episode of "The Simpsons" when Bart wants to become a daredevil? It’s a lot like that. There is even a looong, comical fall down an unending hill, ala Homer down Springfield Gorge. Rod’s mother is played by Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek. Rod desperately wants to get the approval of his stepfather, played by awesome incarnate Ian McShane. Now how can he get his approval? By kicking his ass and proving he’s a man. The early scenes of Rod fighting McShane are probably the funniest in the movie. I couldn’t really tell if McShane looked like he was having a good time, but I will say that he’s a really good sport. When it turns out he needs a heart transplant which will cost $50,000, Rod decides he will jump 15 school busses to raise the money to save his step father. Why save him? So he can live to get his ass kicked by Rod. Rod and his team of followers then work on raising the money for the stunt. His team includes Bill Hader (hilarious in “Superbad” and underused on SNL), Jorma Taccone (Samberg’s comedy partner from their Lonely Island team), Danny McBride (All The Real Girls), and eventually the super cute Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) who is really sweet in the role. She’s there for Rod to fall in love with, but unfortunately for him she’s the girlfriend of the always hilarious Will Arnett, who I’m very sad to say is completely wasted and only appears in four short scenes. Not even enough time for a bunch of clichéd “asshole boyfriend” scenes. All in all, the film is just not as funny as it should be. I know it’s not really supposed to be grounded in reality, but it’s a little too ridiculous. There is little or no development of characters. I would have liked to have gotten a little or any back story on his friends and step brother. Or at least establish some character traits. His stepbrother has a few gags that suggest more of a story, (is he gay? Just weird?), but him and all his friends are pretty interchangeable. As soon as we meet them they just start doing odd and funny things, but we never get to know them as people. The best thing in the whole movie is probably the relationship between Rod and his stepfather, but the first thing we see them do is have an over the top fight. A gag-filled comedy is fine, but I wish they would give us a little credit and provide more to see. One thing the movie doesn’t need more of is montages. I think I counted eight or so. We see him training, we see him falling, we see them put up flyers, we see him perform at birthday parties, we see a rough cut of a montage film that a character makes, then we see the final cut of the same film, all set to interchangeable 70’s and 80’s hard rock songs. Sometimes the gags within the montages are funny, but it’s still too much. I feel like I’m being too hard on this. It’s better than a lot of comedies, and certainly better than a lot of Lorne Michaels produced films, save “Wayne’s World” and “The Blues Brothers.” It would be a decent rental but seems too slight to play in theatres. The audience I was with was laughing, but not consistently and not always together. A quarter would laugh at this, a quarter would laugh at that. I give Samberg a lot of credit too. He’s not just phoning this in. He has a great energy and really commits to the role. I want to give him another chance. I think he could be really funny. His enthusiasm in this film alone gets quite a few chuckles. And I commend Lorne Michaels for trying to do an original comedy and not just produce a feature film of an extended sketch character. But next time, how about a completely original, ensemble film featuring all or most the cast of SNL? I remember when “Coneheads” came out. Not a great film but it featured every Not Ready For Primetime Player from the time in cameos or supporting roles. How about something like that? Like “The Ruttles: All You Need is Cash?” That also featured the entire cast of SNL and debuted on TV. Maybe a funny tv movie? And Samberg, maybe a feature film based around shorts? Like “And Now For Something Completely Different” or this summer’s “The Ten?” I think there was a lot of potential here and some of it was funny enough that I might rent it when it comes out on DVD, but I think the team is capable of more. I’ll never give up on them. I just hope they try harder next time. -Bungion Boy
But wait! For those of you in the NYC area (especially those that tried to contact me at the Bowery Hotel during my oh-so-brief stay in the city), I do take your comments about NYC and AICN seriously. I know Harry considers it something we need to figure out, and there are a number of you I want to talk to. Bronx Cheer, Bungion Boy, Alimentum... any of you who are interested in being more involved, the first step is just to start writing. Bungion Boy seems to have pretty great luck with scoring movie passes. Maybe we can hook him up with some of the rest of you for things he can’t attend. With Mr. Beaks, one of my favorite talkbackers-turned-contributors here on the site, he and I started talking about him covering a Brian De Palma retrospective at Lincoln Center, and it’s still one of my favorite series of articles I’ve ever published. You should take advantage of the great series available to you, like the one that Bungion Boy mentions here:
Hey Moriarty (Drew). I write reviews under the name Bungion Boy. I don't have a posting today but just some info that you might want to post on AICN. After the overwhelming response from your post a few weeks ago about the New York screening, it seems that there is some demand from readers for more articles and news about New York. I thought I would send this your way. Several films from this year's Sundance Film Festival are going to play at BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn in June. I know I'm going to revisit some of the favorites I saw at Park City, as well as catch a few that I missed. All the information is here! Thanks for throwing some love towards New York. Have a nice night. Bungion Boy
