Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Fun Movie News. #020:
Make a 15-minute masterpiece.
[The three "stand-alone classics" do indeed deliver the goods - the Jack Black chimney-sweep sequence (available in an extended version on the dvd "deleted scenes") never fails to delight and I've seen it about 30 times. The Patinkin Broadway rehearsal scene is a very successful adaptation of material from the classic "Fuzz: The Musical" Mr. Show sketch. Three Times One Minus One provide their best jam - Cross hilariously details his intentions for a "rememberful" evening, including anatomical logistics ("thoughtful"), and Odenkirk serves his usual role as a bass-voiced, ersatz Flava Flav ("double damn!").
The freedom-crimping narrative aside, the film has plenty of fun moments. Cross is effective in his first leading role (the character is not written very well, but there's nothing wrong with the performance, especially in strong scenes like a newly-famous Dobbs talking to a wheelchair-bound Asian boy, voiced by Cross, who needs money for some "special shoes"). Odenkirk's Terry Twillstein remains a delicious character (nicely combined here with Bob's "Thrilling Miracles" infomercial character, Ernie: "It turns vomit back into food!"); there's a nice Richter/Foley/Silverman scene ("I'm forgainst it"); the cameo-filled pool party scene (Shandling! Scott Ian! Jeff Garlin!) featuring a conspiratorial Scott Thompson; a New Age session with Tom Kenny, Mary Lynn Rasjkub ("a reddish background"), Randee of the Redwoods, and Jeff Goldlbum (!); and some of the best end credits in recent memory (a Jackie Chan spoof and Melissa Auf Der Maur singing "Every Rose Has Its Thorn").
The main problem with the film is that the Dobbs character is simply not feature-worthy - the backstory and set-up is dull and nothing interesting is done with his on-again-off-again marriage to Tammy (Jill Talley). His sidekicks barely register beyond some minor chuckles for narrator Clay's (David Koechner) escalating DUI-feuled injuries. The relationship between Dobbs and Twillstein was the essence of the Mr. Show sketches and that should have been more of the film's focus. The Dobbs character is very straightforward - a drunk, mulleted Georgian with a "talent" for getting arrested. But, when you throw him in with the crazed, British Twillstein character and filter it through the Mr. Show sensibility, it's brilliant comedy. Rather than really dive into this dynamic, the existing cut has, well, too much Dobbs stuff without enough Terry chasers.]
posted by Linus |
8:33 AM
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