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Before I begin with the review of the film proper, I feel like I need to introduce the man who made it - Uwe Boll is widely thought to be one of the worst directors working in film today. He is perhaps most "famous" for directing adaptations of horror videogames such as Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead. Keeping true to form, he is still making videogame-based movies. Postal is one such film, based off the highly controversial shoot-'em-up series of the same name. The games are also in their own right infamous for being incredibly violent and politically incorrect - so much that they are even completely banned in Australia. So here you have two very volatile elements in the form of both Boll and Postal. Now imagine if you combine them together...
Postal revolves around a mild-mannered everyman known as “the Postal Dude” (Zack Ward) who is caught in the middle of a very disappointing life - he lives in a trailer with his obese adulterous wife and is constantly getting trouble and disrespect from virtually everyone he meets. He then falls in with his uncle Dave (Dave Foley), the leader of a doomsday cult filled with hippies and beautiful women. Together they plot to conduct a heist of a shipment of popular children's dolls to save Dave from the IRS. However, it soon transpires that a small army of terrorists (led by Osama bin Laden himself) also wants to get their hands on the toys, for reasons not revealed until late in the film. From there, all hell breaks loose on the small town of Paradise.
To imagine what the experience of watching Postal is like, try and picture the most family-friendly, politically correct film you possibly can - and then head in the opposite direction as far as you can, and then some. This whole film is, to quote the tagline for trash legend John Waters' Pink Flamingos, "an exercise in poor taste". Right from the throwaway gag at the beginning of the film (which details what really happened on board one of the 9/11 planes - I can only imagine how anyone who saw United 93 will react to that scene), you can tell that the film is not going to try and tone things down. Nothing is sacred in Postal - dozens upon dozens of innocent people are killed in countless absurd ways (to list them all would take all night). Live animals are used as silencers (don't ask how). Bin Laden and George W. Bush have a somewhat homoerotic relationship. Boll even makes a cameo as himself, making frequent ridiculous self-referential gags (and even being assaulted by the actual creator of the Postal videogame for "ruining his game"). It's all very chaotic, throwing in countless acts of mindless violence, gross-out humour or impossible acts of socio-political insensitivity.
And yet, in a strange way, I actually enjoyed Postal. It succeeds as an adaptation by maintaining faithfulness to the source material yet also managing to craft plenty of original material on its own. Maintaining the feel of the Postal games is especially important because, deep down, Postal is a satire. Right from the aforementioned 9/11 scene, through what is probably the most ridiculous job interview committed to celluloid, all the way to the heartfelt “moral” speech that the Postal Dude delivers after about 80 more minutes worth of barbs at America, its inhabitants, friends, enemies and core values. Boll has called Postal his most important film to date. Considering the subject matter on offer, I think he may have a point. Postal is still crude and horrible, but it still manages to strike chords and touch nerves. I seriously doubt that anyone who reads my reviews will be immediately driven to seek it out and watch it, but those who do might find themselves rewarded by the blood-soaked commentary on offer.
The only real problem I can see with Postal is that it probably won’t stand up to repeat viewings. Just like the games, Postal trades off mountains of shock value to cover its decidedly average substance, and while as a film, Postal is still decent on a technical level, I doubt it’ll really hold up as a brilliant film over the years. It’s still worth enjoying (if you’re capable of enjoying something so incredibly transgressive as Postal can be) and I recommend it to anyone who thinks they can handle it.
POSTAL
(Uwe Boll, 2007)
(Uwe Boll, 2007)
Before I begin with the review of the film proper, I feel like I need to introduce the man who made it - Uwe Boll is widely thought to be one of the worst directors working in film today. He is perhaps most "famous" for directing adaptations of horror videogames such as Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead. Keeping true to form, he is still making videogame-based movies. Postal is one such film, based off the highly controversial shoot-'em-up series of the same name. The games are also in their own right infamous for being incredibly violent and politically incorrect - so much that they are even completely banned in Australia. So here you have two very volatile elements in the form of both Boll and Postal. Now imagine if you combine them together...
Postal revolves around a mild-mannered everyman known as “the Postal Dude” (Zack Ward) who is caught in the middle of a very disappointing life - he lives in a trailer with his obese adulterous wife and is constantly getting trouble and disrespect from virtually everyone he meets. He then falls in with his uncle Dave (Dave Foley), the leader of a doomsday cult filled with hippies and beautiful women. Together they plot to conduct a heist of a shipment of popular children's dolls to save Dave from the IRS. However, it soon transpires that a small army of terrorists (led by Osama bin Laden himself) also wants to get their hands on the toys, for reasons not revealed until late in the film. From there, all hell breaks loose on the small town of Paradise.
To imagine what the experience of watching Postal is like, try and picture the most family-friendly, politically correct film you possibly can - and then head in the opposite direction as far as you can, and then some. This whole film is, to quote the tagline for trash legend John Waters' Pink Flamingos, "an exercise in poor taste". Right from the throwaway gag at the beginning of the film (which details what really happened on board one of the 9/11 planes - I can only imagine how anyone who saw United 93 will react to that scene), you can tell that the film is not going to try and tone things down. Nothing is sacred in Postal - dozens upon dozens of innocent people are killed in countless absurd ways (to list them all would take all night). Live animals are used as silencers (don't ask how). Bin Laden and George W. Bush have a somewhat homoerotic relationship. Boll even makes a cameo as himself, making frequent ridiculous self-referential gags (and even being assaulted by the actual creator of the Postal videogame for "ruining his game"). It's all very chaotic, throwing in countless acts of mindless violence, gross-out humour or impossible acts of socio-political insensitivity.
And yet, in a strange way, I actually enjoyed Postal. It succeeds as an adaptation by maintaining faithfulness to the source material yet also managing to craft plenty of original material on its own. Maintaining the feel of the Postal games is especially important because, deep down, Postal is a satire. Right from the aforementioned 9/11 scene, through what is probably the most ridiculous job interview committed to celluloid, all the way to the heartfelt “moral” speech that the Postal Dude delivers after about 80 more minutes worth of barbs at America, its inhabitants, friends, enemies and core values. Boll has called Postal his most important film to date. Considering the subject matter on offer, I think he may have a point. Postal is still crude and horrible, but it still manages to strike chords and touch nerves. I seriously doubt that anyone who reads my reviews will be immediately driven to seek it out and watch it, but those who do might find themselves rewarded by the blood-soaked commentary on offer.
The only real problem I can see with Postal is that it probably won’t stand up to repeat viewings. Just like the games, Postal trades off mountains of shock value to cover its decidedly average substance, and while as a film, Postal is still decent on a technical level, I doubt it’ll really hold up as a brilliant film over the years. It’s still worth enjoying (if you’re capable of enjoying something so incredibly transgressive as Postal can be) and I recommend it to anyone who thinks they can handle it.