eddmurua

It starts off with a certain charm thanks to its eccentric tone and a very effective performance by Rainn Wilson. The problem is that as it goes on, the well-written humor gives way to James Gunn's obsessions: violence, out-of-place references, and an uncomfortable fascination with mixing that with sex, animals, and children, sometimes in the same scene, where they add nothing, since the film isn't about any of that.

As a result, the film becomes increasingly strange, shifting from transgressive to fetishistic, which overshadows any attempt at satire or comedy. The planned jokes begin to drown in the director's personal fixations (like the "show within the show," basically a kids' moral cartoon shot as if it were a porno, for instance), and what could've been a critique of the superhero genre turns into an exposition of Gunn's inner world.

Finally, while Wilson and Bacon are very solid, Elliot Page is just awful: overacted and one-note. The mix of sadism and obscenity with nerd comic book references à la Big Bang Theory (which don't come off natural either) results in the worst performance I've seen from the actor. So even the cast ends up feeling uneven.

The story feels fragmented because of the odd choice to give equal screentime to both leads, Father Burk (Demián Bichir) in the first half and the nun (Farmiga) in the second. It creates a bit of a disconnect in the narrative flow, honestly, especially when everything (title, poster, trailer) clearly pointed to her being the main focus.

Another big issue is how poorly explained the supernatural entity's powers are, and more importantly, their limits. That matters a lot, since the whole plot depends on them. When what happens in one scene doesn't carry over to the next, the script conveniences become really obvious and hurt the experience. And then there's the overuse of jumpscares, some not even well done.

That said, the acting is great, I found it visually really appealing, the atmosphere works, and yes, the humor felt natural too. It's not a good movie, but it's definitely not the trash people are saying it is.

A short, absurd, and very fun comedy, burdened with a bad reputation I truly don't understand. It's an almost perfect blend of crude parody, slapstick humor, and the sentimentalism typical of romantic comedies and sports movies. Almost perfect, because Vince Vaughn is a disaster: his acting is flat, unfunny, and nearly ruins every scene he's in. Luckily, the script is so simple and filled with nonsense that not even his mediocrity can fully sink it.

Ben Stiller, on the other hand, goes full Zoolander mode, playing a gym bro so cartoonish it becomes hilarious. For me, it worked incredibly well. I understand it could wear others out, but I wouldn't accept anyone claiming that his character wasn't carefully written for laughs. The slapstick does its job: yes, it's filler comedy, but in a sports movie, it absolutely fits.

What I loved the most is how it parodies those underdog stories where the little guys go up against the rich and powerful. Everything is there: the pacing, the clichés, the narrative structur, just exaggerated and pushed to the absurd with great effectiveness. If only we could switch out the lead for Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Jack Black... or almost anyone with decent comic timing...