Hot Rod (2007)
Directed by Akiva Schaffer
Written by Pam Brady
Starring Andy Samberg, Ian McShane, Isla Fisher
Release Date August 3rd, 2007
Published August 3rd, 2007
Andy Samberg was the MVP of Saturday Night Live recently thanks to his terrifically funny digital short films Lazy Sunday and Dick In A Box. Samberg has brought SNL the kind of cultural cache that the show hasn't had in over a decade which makes his move to the big screen a well anticipated event. It also unfortunately stokes my disappointment in Samberg's feature film debut.
Hot Rod, the story of a teenage stuntman, is a lame attempt to expand on Samberg's talent for physical humor with none of the wit that made Lazy Sunday a YouTube classic.
Rod (Samberg) dreams of one day becoming a world famous stuntman. For now he is content putting on stunt shows for the younger kids in the neighborhood. Though, as we meet him, his stunts consist mostly of his ugly crashes, Rod never loses hope that one day he will hit the big jump that will make him a legend and earn him the respect of his step-father (Ian Mcshane).
Rod's relationship with his step-dad is strained. The two do battle in hand to hand combat on a regular basis, putting a real hurt on one another; with real weapons and fists, in the family basement while Mom (Sissy Spacek) remains clueless. Despite the acrimony, when his step-dad grows ill and needs an operation to save his life, Rod steps up with a plan to use his stunt skills to raise the money to save his life, if only so he can finally kick the old guy's ass.
Naturally, there is a love interest for Rod. Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) plays Denise, Rod's neighbor who remains oblivious to Rod's obvious crush on her. As a plot this typically dictates, Denise has a jerk boyfriend (Will Arnett) who will no doubt lose his girl to the sweet, earnest Rod.
Hot Rod was directed by Akiva Schaffer who is one third of the Lonely Island Comedy team with Samberg and Hot Rod co-star Jorma Taccone. The trio has worked together since they were teenagers and when Samberg got his SNL gig, based on one of their popular internet videos, he brought Schaffer and Taccone along with him as writers.
In their work; Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone have shown a real knack for modern culture and ironic wit. Why that did not translate in Hot Rod likely has a lot to do with trying to meld their talents with what is a rather mundane formulaic concept. Reduced to trying to squeeze their brand of irony in between all of the goofball slapstick, Samberg and company are left with snarky music cues and vague homages to 80's cultural icons, though thankfully no Hasselhoff.
Hot Rod is yet another of those really disappointing Hollywood comedies where the best stuff is the trailer. Searching my memory for one funny scene that I hadn't already seen in the film's ad campaign; I'm at a loss. The ramp collapsed? Funny in the trailer; less funny in the movie. The exploding stunt and subsequent exchange with a malcontent viewer? Funny in the trailer, forgettable in the context of the movie.
And on and on, anything funny in the trailer is all that was mildly amusing in the film itself. What is left of Hot Rod are allegedly humorous bits of music placement. If you think the simple fact that someone listens to the long lost hair band Europe is funny, then you will get a chuckle out of Hot Rod. If you think a character singing a karaoke version of George Michael's One More Try to his stuffed animals is a laugh riot? Then Hot Rod is your movie.
Whoops, sorry, I may have given away this movie's two jokes that aren't in the trailer.
Hot Rod is a real disappointment. Andy Samberg is a talented kid who can and likely will do better. Being that Hot Rod was a script originally intended for Will Ferrell, Samberg would be well instructed to find and develop something of his own. Or, at the very least, something more suited to his quirky talents. Hot Rod is, I hope, beneath the talent of Mr. Samberg and not the definition of his talents on the big screen.
