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"HOT ROD"
(2007) (Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher) (PG-13)

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QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: A young stuntman hopes to raise enough money performing a dangerous stunt to pay for his stepfather's heart transplant.
PLOT:
Rod Kimble (ANDY SAMBERG) is a daredevil and self-proclaimed stuntman who isn't very good at that, but wants to follow in his late father's footsteps. His mom, Marie (SISSY SPACEK), has since remarried Frank Powell (IAN McSHANE) who constantly battles Rod in a series of rough but friendly battles to prove who's more of a man, all while Frank's son Kevin (JORMA TACCONE) watches.

The latter is part of Rod's inner circle that also includes Dave (BILL HADER), Rico (DANNY R. McBRIDE), and eventually pretty neighbor Denise (ISLA FISHER), while hanger-on Richardson (CHESTER TAM) mostly must stay on the sidelines.

Rod would like Denise to be his girlfriend, but she's dating lawyer and resident jerk Jonathan (WILL ARNETT), so he does what he can to try to impress her. But when he learns that Frank needs a heart transplant and that their insurance won't cover the $50,000 operation, Rod and his friends set out to raise the money by having the young stuntman jump a record number of parked buses.

OUR TAKE: 3.5 out of 10
In days of old, the stuntman (and occasional stuntwoman) were valuable but unheralded commodities in Hollywood, whether on TV or in film. Viewers saw their work, but if the direction, editing, and makeup were done just right, they never knew it wasn't Captain Kirk or Indiana Jones roughing it up with some villain.

A change occurred, however, when some of those talented daredevils figured they could and should make a name for themselves. Originally something of an extension of old-time magicians and carny attractions, the likes of Evel Knievel became well-known, eventually leading to the likes of Tony Hawk doing the skateboard thing to the "Jackass" guys who became famous simply for performing the most outrageous, dumb, and often quite dangerous stunts they could imagine.

All of which leads to "Hot Rod," the latest film to feature a stuntman doing his thing. Of course, Rod Kimble's (Andy Samberg) efforts aren't as over the top as what Johnny Knoxville and his crew routinely did, nor as proficient as Hawk, all of those BMXers or anyone else in the field. But Mr. Knievel is constantly on his mind due to a dog-eared photo he keeps under his pillow featuring that celebrity and Rod's dad.

Unfortunately, his dear old pop has gone to the great stuntman airbag in the sky, and Rod now lives with his stepfather (Ian McShane) who has a sadistic habit of beating him up in repeated "who's the man" battles. While that might sound like a depressing state of affairs, it isn't (at least not for that reason), as this is a comedy, reportedly originally intended for Will Ferrell who's made quite a living playing that sort of confident character who's seemingly whacked his head a few too many times.

Alas, Ferrell isn't around, and Samberg doesn't yet have the comedic acting chomps or onscreen charisma to pull off this sort of role. Coupled with a whacky absurdism (Ebenezer Scrooge, of all people, even shows up late in the film) and the same sort of nerds rule vibe that fueled "Napoleon Dynamite," the film will likely find a certain audience that will enjoy its "charms." For everyone else, however, this will come off as a hit or miss affair where the latter outnumber the former by a wide margin.

To an extent, it feels like one of those lame "Saturday Night Live" skits that never was that funny on the show, yet managed to spawn a feature-length film that similarly didn't work, but on an even grander -- or at least widescreen -- scale. Of course, that really shouldn't come as a surprise since the film's director, Akiva Schaffer and various performers (including Samberg as well as some of the supporting actors) have all worked on that late night TV comedy series.

So, instead of just the usual 3-minute skit that would have featured Rod the Inept Stuntman failing in his latest stunt, we have -- in usual "SNL" TV to movie fashion -- a flimsy plot designed to serve as a skeleton upon which to hang all of the goofy shenanigans, etc. Here, Rod discovers that his stepdad needs a heart transplant but can't afford the surgery. Accordingly, he and his stepbrother (Jorma Taccone) and buddies (Bill Hader and Danny R. McBride) set out to raise the money by performing an Evel Knievel type stunt.

And that's about it, save for an underdeveloped subplot featuring an underused Isla Fisher as the protag's potential love interest, and Will Arnett as her obnoxious boyfriend who looks down on the stuntman and his crew. When Rod's not trying to woo her in his own nerdy fashion, he and his pals are executing various smaller stunts to lead up to the big one.

The fun, of course, is supposed to stem from his and his pal's nerdiness, and the fact that he can't pull off a stunt to save his (or apparently his dad's) life. The former -- as was the case with Napoleon Dynamite -- is an acquired taste that some (read most anyone over 21) just won't ever attain, while the former delivers a few chuckles here and there.

Even so, all of the failed stunts (where he smacks into various things or vice versa) as well as the knockdown, drag-out fights with McShane quickly become too repetitive. Moreover, they feel quite tame in a world where the Jackass crew has mightily succeeded in making viewers laugh while wincing at the outrageous stunts they perform. And that's the very quality this film so desperately needs. Good for a momentary laugh or two but never transcending or escaping from the "SNL" meets Napoleon Dynamite vibe that runs throughout it, "Hot Rod" rates as just a 3.5 out of 10.




Reviewed July 30, 2007 / Posted August 3, 2007


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