Hot Rod (2007)
Genre: Comedy
Format Viewed: DVD
Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.
At the end of the day, it was just good to see The Dudes up on the silver screen…
Or at least my big screen in the living room, as it were, in continuing my theme of finally catching up with all of the leftovers that somehow managed to slip through the cracks this summer. And mind you, Hot Rod wasn’t exactly of the same blockbuster caliber as Spider-Man 3 or Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix or even my beloved The Simpsons Movie, but instead it made it on the list because after watching their videos online and on Saturday Night Live for the last couple of years, I just had to see how Andy, Jorma, and Akiva would do with a full 90-minutes on their hands!
In retrospect, it’s probably better that this one waited until DVD because I’d have owed my fiancée big time if she had been forced to sit through the entire thing in a theater as opposed to being able to retreat to her Tivo’ed shows in the bedroom after the first ten minutes, but I digress…
I’m not gonna lie to you – Hot Rod is a pretty stupid movie – in fact, likely one of the stupidest movies of the year, so I guess it’s a good thing that they didn’t hire me to write the tag line, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t have its memorable moments. It’s kind of like how Saturday Night Live itself is these days – every once in a while, they’ll air a good sketch here or there, but you’ve just got to sift through an awful lot of bad impersonations and mediocre parodies to find them. Every clip can’t be a Lazy Sunday or Dick in a Box, but for what it’s worth Hot Rod did remind us to take a bit of time every now and then to ponder that age-old question, “Who would win in a fight between a grilled cheese sandwich and a taco???”
No, seriously – take all the time that you need!
I really wanted this movie to be a huge hit – maybe the next Ace Ventura or Dumb and Dumber – but I think there’s just only so far that you can run with the awkward, offbeat humor and eventually underneath you still need to have more than a handful of good laughs to really build a solid foundation. I mean, the main character has a few good quotes here and there, and it was nice to see Isla Fisher in another movie after her cute chick appearance in Wedding Crashers, but it still wasn’t of the caliber of Superbad or Knocked Up or even …Chuck and Larry when it all comes down to it. It was amusing to me and yes, I did sit through the whole thing, but that might very well have simply been because I’ve come to enjoy The Dudes other work and I had to see how their first feature film turned out for myself. Is that saying that they shouldn’t make another one? Not necessarily – look at Will Ferrell – the last three or four comedies that he’s cranked out have been crap in my eyes and yet I still can’t help but list Night at the Roxbury in my top ten comedies of all time, so figure that one out!
I say keep at it, Dudes, because while not everything you churn out will always be a smash hit, for those times when your latest film provides us detailed instructions on how to best package our, well, packages for optimal presentation to the ladies, well sometimes it’s worth the wait…
That said, for a look at some of the hilarity that turned yours truly onto The Dudes in a completely heterosexual, yet hilarious way, be sure to check out www.thelonelyisland.com.
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