![]() There’s also lines like “Have I ever shown you a picture of my dad? You gotta see it. For instance, most of the film boasts a killer 80s synthpop soundtrack, but towards the climax when Rod’s crew has their inevitable third act falling out, the score suddenly switches to melodramatic string arrangements. More than aware that it’s mostly good for a long string of non sequitur gags, Hot Rod tends to poke fun at itself whenever it has to actually become a real movie. Titles like MacGruber, Tammy, and Gentlemen Broncos all come to mind in consideration of just how dumb & low class the film intentionally is. If I had to pinpoint Hot Rod‘s exact subgenre, I’d place it somewhere in the self-aware dumb comedy category. I went into the film not sure that I could handle a feature length project from Samberg, but I left wishing there were more just like it. There’s a lot of solid humor derived from the disparity between Rod’s confidence & his actual abilities, which allows you to have a good laugh even while he drowns, catches fire, or explodes. ![]() Often missing jumps on his dirtbike & puking from the pain, Samberg’s titular Rod is far from the Evil Kineival Jr. Playing an overgrown man-child who wants to be a daredevil just like his deceased father, Samberg’s general mode here is slapstick comedy. It’s tempting to attribute Hot Rod‘s success to its supporting players (scene-stealing doofuses Bill Hader & Danny McBride, a ludicrously violent Ian McShane, Will Arnett as a perfect 80s cad- right down to the sunglasses & convertible, etc.), but this is unmistakably Andy Samberg’s movie. Also, it helps that the movie is damn funny from start to finish. Having now actually seen Hot Rod, I can confirm that Samberg can be occasionally exhausting within the film, but his antics are broken up & balanced by enough other comedic voices that it’s not really a problem. With the enthusiasm & self-restraint of a toddler hopped up on sugar, Samberg sounded like he could be a chore (babysitting, specifically) at a 90 min stretch. I used to find Samberg occasionally funny on Saturday Night Live, but it was difficult to imagine him being tolerable for more than just a few minutes at a time. Much of the film’s humor stems from the soundtrack, consisting largely of cheesy cuts from the apparently not forgotten heavy-metal band Europe.Although I’ve only ever heard good things about the Andy Samberg vehicle Hot Rod, I’ve been avoiding actually watching it, because, you know, Andy Samberg. In a shamelessly brazen attempt to replicate the success of Samberg’s “SNL” video shorts “Lazy Sunday” and “Dick in a Box,” there is a sequence involving the repeated chanting of the phrase “cool beans” that seems instantly ready for YouTube. ![]() Director Akiva Schaffer executes these sequences with enough brio to induce laughter from juvenile-minded audience members, but only rarely - as with a hilariously edited montage of the star falling down a mountain for what seems like an eternity - do they display real imagination. Pam Brady’s formulaic screenplay mainly assembles a series of physical set pieces in which Samberg’s character falls off his motorbike, gets hit by assorted vehicles, literally becomes a human pinata, etc. On the other hand, Jorma Taccone, Bill Hader and Danny McBride are quite funny as Samberg’s sidekicks, and “SNL’s” Chris Parnell scores some laughs as a pompous AM radio broadcaster. To say that it wastes the talents of McShane (who at least seems to be enjoying his hammy turn) and Oscar winner Sissy Spacek, as Samberg’s patient, long-suffering mom, is an understatement.Īlso wasted is Isla Fisher, who plays it mainly straight as Samberg’s love interest and has little opportunity to display the comic talents seen in “Wedding Crashers,” and Will Arnett, doing his usual deep-voiced, boorish routine. ![]() Still, the young actor displays a reasonably engaging and sweet comedic screen presence, sort of a variation on Will Ferrell’s dim-witted cluelessness with occasional interludes of Adam Sandler-style emotional volatility.Īpparently originally designed as a vehicle for Ferrell, who serves as one of the executive producers, the comedy is high in concept, low in sophistication. European Film Academy Restructures Board to Increase Regional and Ethnic Diversity
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