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#261 - Hot Rod
Akiva Schaffer, 2007
An amateur stuntman tries to raise the money necessary to save his ailing stepfather.
I think I should know by now to not expect too much from any film that's got a reputation for being a "cult comedy". Though a fair few of my current favourite comedies were ones I didn't think too much of upon first viewing, but this film gave me the same vibe I got from Wet Hot American Summer (which I have given two viewings so far and still struggle to find all that amusing no matter how much I want to). Is it supposed to be like a Zen thing where you don't think about how you're supposed to find it funny? Anyway, after finding Andy Samberg funny in recent cop sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I felt I should at least try to check out his most notable big-screen outing (what else was it going to be, That's My Boy?).
Much like Wet Hot American Summer, Hot Rod also earned a cult reputation on the basis of a very off-beat sense of humour and its extremely subversive parody of a horribly clichéd sub-genre of film - in this case, the underdog sports movie. Samberg plays an untalented yet dedicated stuntman who learns that his arrogant stepfather (Ian McShane) is dying of heart disease, so he plans to earn the money necessary to get McShane a heart transplant...in order to keep him alive long enough to punch him in the face and win his respect. Simple enough. What follows is about eighty minutes of primarily physical comedy as Samberg and his ragtag group of friends try to raise the money by helping Samberg perform his stunts.
Unfortunately, too much of the film's humour seems to rely on Samberg being a total failure at being a stuntman (and as a well-adjusted human being, but that's practically irrelevant), with only the occasional genuine laugh (such as Danny McBride's tech expert setting off an explosion prematurely being the film's best joke). That joke in particular worked because it was genuinely excessive and unexpected - far too often, the punchlines to the physical gags are either way too telegraphed or are so weak that you wish it had been the obviously telegraphed punchline you were expecting. Otherwise, it's some pretty sub-standard verbal humour that's only intermittently amusing (Chris Parnell as a kooky radio producer makes for the most consistently funny character, though he doesn't have much screen-time) and only serves to drag things out. It is possible that this film might grow on me, but I think that is very, very unlikely.
Akiva Schaffer, 2007
An amateur stuntman tries to raise the money necessary to save his ailing stepfather.
I think I should know by now to not expect too much from any film that's got a reputation for being a "cult comedy". Though a fair few of my current favourite comedies were ones I didn't think too much of upon first viewing, but this film gave me the same vibe I got from Wet Hot American Summer (which I have given two viewings so far and still struggle to find all that amusing no matter how much I want to). Is it supposed to be like a Zen thing where you don't think about how you're supposed to find it funny? Anyway, after finding Andy Samberg funny in recent cop sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I felt I should at least try to check out his most notable big-screen outing (what else was it going to be, That's My Boy?).
Much like Wet Hot American Summer, Hot Rod also earned a cult reputation on the basis of a very off-beat sense of humour and its extremely subversive parody of a horribly clichéd sub-genre of film - in this case, the underdog sports movie. Samberg plays an untalented yet dedicated stuntman who learns that his arrogant stepfather (Ian McShane) is dying of heart disease, so he plans to earn the money necessary to get McShane a heart transplant...in order to keep him alive long enough to punch him in the face and win his respect. Simple enough. What follows is about eighty minutes of primarily physical comedy as Samberg and his ragtag group of friends try to raise the money by helping Samberg perform his stunts.
Unfortunately, too much of the film's humour seems to rely on Samberg being a total failure at being a stuntman (and as a well-adjusted human being, but that's practically irrelevant), with only the occasional genuine laugh (such as Danny McBride's tech expert setting off an explosion prematurely being the film's best joke). That joke in particular worked because it was genuinely excessive and unexpected - far too often, the punchlines to the physical gags are either way too telegraphed or are so weak that you wish it had been the obviously telegraphed punchline you were expecting. Otherwise, it's some pretty sub-standard verbal humour that's only intermittently amusing (Chris Parnell as a kooky radio producer makes for the most consistently funny character, though he doesn't have much screen-time) and only serves to drag things out. It is possible that this film might grow on me, but I think that is very, very unlikely.