Film review: MOVIE 43, from Built For Speed
Movie 43 raises two important questions, why are there so many big stars in this dog of a film and why the hell was it made in the first place?
This alleged comedy unbelievably represents the collaboration of multiple directors led by Peter Farrelly and a huge roster of name actors including Richard Gere, Hugh Hackman, Naomi Watts and Halle Berri all of whom demean themselves beyond comprehension.
Using a clichéd framing device in which Denis Quaid is a nut pitching a movie idea to producer Greg Kinnear, the film vomits out a series of disconnected skits in a format reminiscent of 80’s anthology comedies like Kentucky Fried Movie and Amazon Women on the Moon, just without the humour or pop cultural awareness.
Movie 43 is relentlessly crass, stupid and juvenile which would be fine if the film had a shred of wit. Unfortunately, wit is entirely absent from these torturous overlong skits that include Hugh Jackman trashing his hard-earned cred by wearing a scrotum-like prosthetic on his neck, Halle Berri mashing guacamole with the fakest looking rubber titty in cinema history and Johnny Knoxville bashing a leprechaun (Gerard Butler).
The filmmakers seemed to think that simply turning up the violence, obscenity and political incorrectness would make the film funnier. Dead wrong! All these sketches are lame, predictable and too lazy to be offensive. The only segment that comes within a million light years of being amusing involves Naomi Watts and Live Schreiber as parents who home school their teenage son but want him to experience all the bullying he’d receive at school. There’s about 10 seconds of humour in this sketch but like all the others here (and like many a Saturday Night Live sketch) it massively outstays its welcome.
Not only is the film almost completely devoid of clever ideas but it commits the cardinal sin of comedy in that none of the gags are grounded in reality, they just pile absurdity on top of absurdity. To be genuinely funny, comedy needs to connect with something real.
Nick’s rating: No stars.
Classification: MA 15+
Director(s): Bob Odenkirk, Peter Farrelly and others.
Release date: 7th Feb 2013
Running time: 94 mins.