Bert's drunken past catches up with him 20 years down the road when he and his father are kidnapped by those Bert wronged 20 years ago while drunk on a college semester abroad in Russia.Bert's drunken past catches up with him 20 years down the road when he and his father are kidnapped by those Bert wronged 20 years ago while drunk on a college semester abroad in Russia.Bert's drunken past catches up with him 20 years down the road when he and his father are kidnapped by those Bert wronged 20 years ago while drunk on a college semester abroad in Russia.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Jess Gabor
- Sasha
- (as Jessica Gabor)
Rita Bernard-Shaw
- Ashley
- (as Rita Bernard Shaw)
Nikola Djuricko
- Igor
- (as Nikola Duricko)
Amelie Child Villiers
- Tatiana
- (as Amelie Villiers)
Jovan Savic
- Irina's Father
- (as Jovan Lole Savic)
Set Sjöstrand
- Vanya
- (as Set Sjostrand)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
The movie itself was pretty funny for the most part. I would also agree that it was a little slow at times too. Burt performing on-stage is truly authentic and amazingly funny. For a 1st time actor, I thought he did really well. Some have rated this movie with low scores forgetting that this is a stand-up comedian acting in a major motion picture about his life and never experiencing the acting role before. If you hated this movie and decided to post negative remarks and ratings, I cannot relate. I have read some of these negative reviews and it is clear that some people believe that they themselves are Siskle & Ebert themselves. The movie is funny, was it the best comedy I have ever seen NO. But to bash a movie just because it wasn't your cup of tea is an insult to reviews as a whole. When I dislike something, I simply choose to remember the morales my mother and father taught me as a young child. I keep my opinions and negative thoughts to myself. Go see the movie, it's pretty funny.
I think 6/10 is very fair here. It's not a great movie, and that's ok. If you like Brent Chrysler, you'll be entertained by this movie. I can see why he was so happy with how the movie turned out, it's just all him being something he's not for two hours (which again, is fine!). I can tell this was really just something that everyone involved with had a lot of fun with, from the actors to the editors with those kitschy transitions and strange Russian subtitles. It's quirky, and I think it works here.
Mark Hamill was a crazy get for this movie and I can't believe he agreed to do it. It definitely helped the movie's case. Jimmy Tatro was a good casting for young Bert as well.
One observation to make- Bert's character in this is literally Po from Kung Fu Panda. It's just a fat guy who dumb lucks his way through everything until the very end when his actions seem a bit more intentional and he accepts who he really is inside.
Mark Hamill was a crazy get for this movie and I can't believe he agreed to do it. It definitely helped the movie's case. Jimmy Tatro was a good casting for young Bert as well.
One observation to make- Bert's character in this is literally Po from Kung Fu Panda. It's just a fat guy who dumb lucks his way through everything until the very end when his actions seem a bit more intentional and he accepts who he really is inside.
I don't know much about bert kreisher as a stand up comedian and this seems to be the first film he has stared in. This film is fun and funny at times but its not by burt that makes it funny. Its the scary russian characters that are including mark hamil who can only sound like the joker in my head. In this movie burt and his father are kidnapped by an attractive woman named irina. She wants a watch returned to her that was a family hairloom and she believes burt took it. Back in college he was known as the machine and became involed in the russian mob. Its hard to believe this film is actually based on a true story. But anyway acting was good and this film is decent enough as a crime action movie cut out the sort of comedy and its a pefectly fine film still.
I'm able to switch my brain off and kinda just waltz thru movies that are at that level so it was a solid 5 stars. It's overproduced for what it is and that's probably why I give it a 5, but it's "The Machine" story being milked for what it is, a good story that, as time goes on, start to feel more like an overinflated teenager's story that loses any sense of credibility at all, that is not a great story after all. It's unfortunately the thing that pushed me to realize that I'm getting a bit tired of Bert's inflated ego and that maybe outside of the machine and his forced high pitch laugh, he doesn't have much else to offer.
I've never heard of Bert Kreischer so clearly I'm not a fan of his comedy, but nor can I hate it, and as such, the same goes for this film. The Machine was loud, obnoxious and overbearing, and nothing about this comedy should've worked, but it played well to its strengths, and ended up being much more entertaining than it should've been. The casting - especially the villains, was over the top, but it worked even though it shouldn't have, just like Kreischer and Mark Hamill shouldn't have worked, but it did, mostly from their hilarious dialogue and antics. It's not the greatest comedy out there, but it's also not the worst, and we did have a bunch of laugh out loud moments, so that's a good sign. This machine works best with lots of high-octane fluids and with your gears in neutral. It's dumb fun and a decent one-time watch, especially with all the slim pickings out there.
Did you know
- TriviaBert's real life wife LeeAnn Kreischer can be seen near the start of the film, as the mom at the Sweet 16 party who Bert does not get along with.
- GoofsAfter getting shot twice in the chest, Irina falls off the train, only to get reunited with Bert in Igor's village. She also has a piece of wood through her leg that Bert proceeds to extract. However, she seems to have no problem walking or even fighting when she next meets her brother Alexei.
- Crazy creditsWhile the closing credits roll, a commercial plays starring Bert and his father for Kreischer Karpets.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Brad Tries Podcasting: Fast X/Kandahar/Martyrs (2023)
- SoundtracksTorn
Written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven and Phil Thornalley
Performed by Scott Stapp
Scott Stapp appears courtesy of Napalm Records
- How long is The Machine?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $10,458,331
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,000,545
- May 28, 2023
- Gross worldwide
- $10,664,328
- Runtime
- 1h 52m(112 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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