← Back to Reviews
in
POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPING
Andy Samberg was criminally underused during his tenure on SNL, to which anyone who saw his Digital Shorts on that show or anyone who watches his hit sitcom Brooklyn Nine Nine can attest. Samberg was given the chance to bring both skill sets to the big screen in 2016's POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING, a razor sharp, New Millenium updating of This is Spinal Tap that pretty much had me laughing until I was crying.
Done in the "Mockumentary" style of Spinal Tap and most of Christopher Guest's comedies, this is the story of three childhood friends, Conner (Samberg), Owen (Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) who form a white rap group called The Style Boyz, who have a very bitter breakup that finds Conner striking out on his own as a solo rapper with Owen as his DJ. Lawrence leaves the business altogether and becomes a farmer. Conner's first solo album is a monster hit which goes to his head but a very bad business deal and less than lackluster sales of his second album find Conner's career doing a serious nosedive. To aid slow album and concert ticket sales, Conner's manager (Tim Meadows) suggest they hire an opening act named Hunter (Chris Redd) who only makes things worse when he becomes way more popular than Conner.
The three stars are also responsible for the screenplay that is so sharp you can cut yourself on it, a scathing satire of the world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll that nails the delicacy of celebrity ego, fan obsession, and the business of show business that is so dead on, it's a little frightening. Close attention to certain story elements will reveal that some of them have been borrowed and thinly disguised from the lives of certain real life musicians, but nothing overt or mean-spirited about it. I have to say though that if I were Justin Bieber or Vanilla Ice or MC Hammer, I might find offense at some of things that happen here. I found the scenes with Lawrence on his farm a little slow, but they are justified in the story's delicious wrap-up.
Like Spinal Tap, the film features some absolutely brilliant songs written by Matthew Compton that include "I'm So Humble", "Turn up the Beef", "Kill this Music". "Finest Girl", "Things in my Jeep", "Mona Lisa" and my favorite "Equal Rights", a hysterical but outdated plea to legalize gay marriage.
Samberg is dazzling in the starring role, proving that this guy has the chops to carry a major motion picture and Taccone beautifully underplays the role of Owen, the second fiddle who gets continually dissed by Conner throughout but never wavers in his loyalty to the guy. Meadows brings the laughs as he always does, as does Chris Redd as Hunter. I even enjoyed Sarah Silverman, who usually annoys me, underplaying nicely as Conner's publicist. The film also features a plethora of cameo appearances including Usher, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, Seal, Carrie Underwood, Maya Rudolph, Ringo Starr, Pharrell Williams, Nas, Pink, and Simon Cowell, but this is Samberg's show and if you're not a fan, you might want to take a half a bag of popcorn off this rating, but this movie had me rolling on the floor with laughter.
Andy Samberg was criminally underused during his tenure on SNL, to which anyone who saw his Digital Shorts on that show or anyone who watches his hit sitcom Brooklyn Nine Nine can attest. Samberg was given the chance to bring both skill sets to the big screen in 2016's POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING, a razor sharp, New Millenium updating of This is Spinal Tap that pretty much had me laughing until I was crying.
Done in the "Mockumentary" style of Spinal Tap and most of Christopher Guest's comedies, this is the story of three childhood friends, Conner (Samberg), Owen (Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) who form a white rap group called The Style Boyz, who have a very bitter breakup that finds Conner striking out on his own as a solo rapper with Owen as his DJ. Lawrence leaves the business altogether and becomes a farmer. Conner's first solo album is a monster hit which goes to his head but a very bad business deal and less than lackluster sales of his second album find Conner's career doing a serious nosedive. To aid slow album and concert ticket sales, Conner's manager (Tim Meadows) suggest they hire an opening act named Hunter (Chris Redd) who only makes things worse when he becomes way more popular than Conner.
The three stars are also responsible for the screenplay that is so sharp you can cut yourself on it, a scathing satire of the world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll that nails the delicacy of celebrity ego, fan obsession, and the business of show business that is so dead on, it's a little frightening. Close attention to certain story elements will reveal that some of them have been borrowed and thinly disguised from the lives of certain real life musicians, but nothing overt or mean-spirited about it. I have to say though that if I were Justin Bieber or Vanilla Ice or MC Hammer, I might find offense at some of things that happen here. I found the scenes with Lawrence on his farm a little slow, but they are justified in the story's delicious wrap-up.
Like Spinal Tap, the film features some absolutely brilliant songs written by Matthew Compton that include "I'm So Humble", "Turn up the Beef", "Kill this Music". "Finest Girl", "Things in my Jeep", "Mona Lisa" and my favorite "Equal Rights", a hysterical but outdated plea to legalize gay marriage.
Samberg is dazzling in the starring role, proving that this guy has the chops to carry a major motion picture and Taccone beautifully underplays the role of Owen, the second fiddle who gets continually dissed by Conner throughout but never wavers in his loyalty to the guy. Meadows brings the laughs as he always does, as does Chris Redd as Hunter. I even enjoyed Sarah Silverman, who usually annoys me, underplaying nicely as Conner's publicist. The film also features a plethora of cameo appearances including Usher, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, Seal, Carrie Underwood, Maya Rudolph, Ringo Starr, Pharrell Williams, Nas, Pink, and Simon Cowell, but this is Samberg's show and if you're not a fan, you might want to take a half a bag of popcorn off this rating, but this movie had me rolling on the floor with laughter.