Hot Rod

Shaun Munro's Reviews (ShaunMunro.co.uk):

Hot Rod, quite simply, is one of the strangest, most offbeat comedies to come our way since Napoleon Dynamite (a film which, I hasten to add, I wasn't terribly fond of upon first viewing). Filled with irreverent gags, and so-called "random" interludes of "humour", Hot Rod is a curiosity of a comedy.

It becomes clear early on that much of the laughs to be sought in Hot Rod are physical, beginning with an impressive, and surprisingly funny (considering how often it was shown in trailers) instance where our protagonist fails a stunt and pays for it in rather brutal spades.

Whilst I did end up ultimately enjoying Hot Rod somewhat, I must admit that I was incredibly apprehensive that this would just end up as another offbeat screwball comedy that, were you to show even a pinch of contempt for it, you would be lambasted for "not getting it" (see: Napoleon Dynamite). Hot Rod didn't grip me right away - whilst the humour was notably different from most of the romps you'll see this year, it really didn't seem to work to begin with. It was almost as though they were trying too hard to deliver a different, edgy brand of laughs. Perhaps this was just the warming up stage for me, as there were parts of this film later on that had me laughing heartily.

The basic premise of Hot Rod is that Rod Kimble (Samberg) is an amateur stuntman, and is suddenly informed that his abusive step-father Frank (McShane) is in dire need of an extortionately expensive heart-transplant. Whilst Kimble and Frank have contempt for one another, Kimble is determined to beat Frank in a fight some day (so as to finally be deemed "a man"), and so wants to ensure that Frank doesn't die (although surely fighting a man who's had a heart-transplant can't be too healthy either). As such, Kimble hatches a plan to perform a jump over 15 buses in an attempt to raise money for the heart transplant.

Continuing from that point, we have Ian McShane, who by far brings the strongest performance to the table as the bitter, acerbic and down right thoroughly dislikeable step-dad. His first line - "never sneak up on a man who's been in a chemical fire" pretty much says all you need to know about him - he's an aggressive madman of the highest order. This character really wouldn't work if it wasn't for the great chemistry between McShane and Samberg - McShane plays a great tease whilst Samberg, conversely, makes a convincing frustrated chump.

From here, we also meet the predictable love interest, in Denise (Fisher). As with McShane, Samberg gels quite well with her, and it makes the emotional cripple that Samberg plays all the more convincing. One notable instance of this is when he tells Denise that she looks pretty, and when she says "What?", he nervously returns "You look shitty!", much to my laughter. This was a man I could sympathise with.

Soon enough, Will Arnett shows up as Denise's rich, egotistical boyfriend. His character is one giant cliché, but Arnett has fun with the role, and next to McShane, provides the most enjoyable performance of the film. His character is one you can love to hate, and they gave Arnett some of the best lines of the film, such as, after running over a raccoon, proclaiming "the raccoon wouldn't have stopped for us", before laughing heartily. This isn't his best work (that honour would be bestowed to Mitch Hurwitz' brilliant Arrested Development), but it's still a good turn.

The rest of Hot Rod is essentially a dense collection of wild set pieces, from impromptu dance numbers and money-making montages, to faux poignant interludes, to a curious Asian man appearing virtually out of nowhere. More often than not, they all end with our protagonist being injured in some way, be it falling down an extremely long hill, flying through some sort of building, or being hit by a car. I felt that the dance number came a little too early in the film to really inspire much of anything, but the ridiculously violent ending to this and other skits were surprisingly funny. I still attest that physical humour (particularly that which is in this film) is a lower form of wit, but with a film like Hot Rod, I took my victories where I could find them, and these just happened to be the continual violent torture of our protagonist. It is worth noting, though, that these moments get very, very close to becoming tiresome by the film's end, and by the time the "cool beans" montage comes around (by which the characters utter these two words over and over until they lose all meaning), I was close to holding my head in my hands. Furthermore, gag-wise, an entire exchange regarding the pronunciation of "wh" seemed to have been poached from a Family Guy episode, much to my dismay.

There is the occasional injection of superficial emotion into the film, where our protagonist experiences a number of ups and downs, and ultimately begins to doubt himself. This almost appears to be a turning point in the film, and just as the viewer may be able to feel something for this character, he's hit by a van. I'm not complaining about it, mind, just noting that the instances of emotion are generally just padding for the comedy.

Everything eventually sets up nicely for the finale, and we have further ups and downs, and ultimately the film ends exactly as you'd expect. Yes, Hot Rod is very predictable, but that didn't stop it being an entertaining ride, with some great performances from Arnett and McShane, and some hit and miss humour, but when it hit, it hit hard. It won't be the best comedy you'll see this year, but it's dumb fun and I'm sure that's what the creators were going for.

I watched Hot Rod for the same reasons i've watched any of the generic American comedies that Hollywood seems to churn out. Because i had nothing better to do, i didn't want to have to think and i expected to be very mildly amused. I was very pleasantly surprised when Hot Rod turned out to have a bit of heart. This movie seems to occupy a middle point between the fairly predictable but fun Blades of Glory and the rather more charming and oddball Napoleon Dynamite. Most recent American comedies seem to function like early Tom Cruise films : Take a vocation and run with it. Blades of Glory had the fairly ridiculous world of figure skating to draw from, and i guess you can't really go wrong with a grown man in lycra on ice skates, but it's humour relied heavily on that. Hot Rod is a film about a (pretty terrible) young stuntman who's objective is to raise enough money to save his dying step-dad by means of a life saving operation. His underlying reason for doing so, however, is because he wants to earn his respect by beating him in a fight. This little quirk and more are what make Hot Rod a little more satisfying than other films in its genre, and, despite some rather obvious jokes and a criminally underused Will Arnett, it's well worth watching.

Our family consists of a fiftyish dad, a fortyish mom and two teenaged daughters. We all saw this movie during a sneak preview just before it opened, and I (the mom) laughed so hard I could barely breathe sometimes. I had to stop laughing so I could hear what I was missing. One of my daughters said it was a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Talladega Nights...maybe. It was completely improbable, I mean, who's going to be doing stunts on a moped? But it was so sweet. The characters never over reached who they were or tried too hard. It never felt forced, like so many movies like this do. The best part was when Rod went to his "Quiet Place". I saw one summary that said it would have been better with Will Ferrell...I've enjoyed everything Will Ferrell has done lately, but Andy Samberg was perfect for this movie. The ending was pretty predictable, but it was like taking a trip...you knew where you'd end up, but it was so much fun along the way. We definitely loved this movie and recommend it to all our friends (and you!)

Its been a while that i have come across a comedy movie as light hearted as this one.I think this movie caters to all genres of audience and the best part is that you don't have to drag the movie storyline home and ponder over it.Its got a feel-good attitude to it and has got a simple storyline. I recommend this movie to one and all.. A great release of 2007 !!! The directors done a good job and so have the actors.. haven't heard of them before but if its their debut, then well done ! The soundtrack is a mix of techno and 80s music which again adds a brilliant touch to the movie and they are very situational, which does not happen in most of the comedy movies..

My wife and I saw a screening of Hot Rod. From some the comments posted here I thought we were going to be bored. Nothing could have been further from the truth. This film was really funny! So funny, that I'm wondering if the people who say they hated it actually saw the same film. No, its not fine art, its a summer comedy, and it delivers plenty of laughs. I am middle-aged guy whose not into early Adam Sandler, or Napoleon Dynamite type comedies, and this movie had me laughing hard. Sure, not at every single joke, but at most of them. If you are into absurdest humor, or enjoyed movies like Hot Fuzz, or Super Troopers, you'll find plenty to enjoy. P.S. My wife liked it too.