Let me begin this blog by clearing something up: no I am not a real doctor, I just love the respect that the title commands. I will be using this blog to review things including but not limited to cinema, television, music, women (that's right ladies, so be extra nice to me or it might just cost you a husband), and dining. Just kidding about the women. But maybe not.
My very first review is of the film "Hot Rod," produced by Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. The film features several SNL cast members including star, Andy Samberg. Now I'm not a regular SNL viewer, but I haven't seen anything near as funny as Hot Rod on the show in a long time. This leads me to my dilemma in writing this review: for all the film's flaws, there are a plethora, it made me laugh more than any other film has in a while.
Samberg's protagonist, Rod Kimble, is a twenty-something aspiring stuntman who lives with his mother, step-father, and step-brother. Rod is constantly at odds with his step-father, whose respect he tries to win by beating him in a fight. One day Rod discovers that his step-father needs a heart transplant so he sets out to raise $50,000 performing stunts in order to pay for the heart. He does this not out of love, but so his step-father will be healthy enough to fight him again.
I didn't quite understand Rod. Most of the time he seemed like a mix between Chris Kattan's character in "Night at the Roxburry" and Napoleon Dynamite. But sometimes the Butabi-esque desire to appear cool would give way to a whimpering, helpless Rod. It didn't seem believable that the character would so easily appear pathetic when in most scenes he makes obnoxious efforts to seem cooler than everyone else. I also, for the life of me, could not figure out why Isla Fisher's character was so willing to be a member of Rod's crew.
But for as puzzling and inconsistent as each of the film's characters are, they are equally hilarious. The film makes it very clear that it is not in least bit concerned with using effective story-telling techniques or even telling a good story. All coherence goes out the window if it earns a laugh; and Hot Rod earns many. I watched this movie on my laptop with headphones on an airplane and I was (more than once) in tears trying to stifle my laughs so as not to disturb the other passengers. Perhaps the biggest laughs were at Chester Tam's dancing and Richardson who showcased the best moves I have seen since Jack Black in High Fidelity (sorry Jon Heder). I am glad the movie was kept to under and hour and a half because the end seemed to drag and I grew tired of the story, but for the most part it was extremely enjoyable.
I am determined to start this blog off with a solid review, but with Hot Rod, I am faced with a dilemma. It was a hilarious movie, but I want to be viewed as a legit credit so I feel like I should hold films accountable for cinematic quality and effectiveness in story telling. I just can't but recommend Hot Rod though; it's random humor was right up my alley. My one problem with the humor was that it threw in some unnecessary and unfunny profanity. Hot Rod's family-friendly laughs eventually became typical crude humor, but that's to be expected for an SNL movie. But above all, I want a movie to make me feel good. Hot Rod made me feel good so I will recommend it, but it's a movie that I wanted to share with my friends and family so I don't recommend watching it on a plane.
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