Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland

This movie should be a stand-up concert film, but for some reason its a road movie instead. The comedians are funny when you do get to see them on stage, but most of the movie is spent looking at a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" map trace the trip across America, cut with footage of the tour bus and then an audience laughing. Insert a cliché song about the city we're about to visit. They pad the movie out with a last minute Katrina benefit show, which seemed kind of melodramatic (especially for a comedy). Vince Vaughn even shows up on occasion throughout the film to show us his range of talent (see wedding crashers...NOT!). The money shot is definitely Vince and his friend Peter Bilingsley acting out their parts from a steroids after-school special.

Greetings again from the darkness. Not a bad idea from producers and best buds Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley. A documentary road trip with four comedians doing 30 shows in 30 cities over 30 days sets the stage for a wide range of emotions and activity. The first misstep was going with four mostly unknown comedians. Because of this, the movie really needs to help us get to know them ... which we just barely do.

The second misstep was that the actual stand-up was sparse and frankly, just not that funny. The back-stage stuff proved much better. I was actually kind of let down when the acts were performing.

Because there were so many cities, we really never get a flavor of any one particular town, although Buck Owens in Bakersfield was kind of cool. Sadly we get more shots of Billingsley sleeping than we do much interaction offstage between the comics. The side trip during Hurricane Katrina could have been much better.

Vince Vaughn is a very charismatic and talented guy so that gives the film a slight edge over what it probably deserves. The reality is that most of these guys just aren't very funny onstage and come across here as a bit sad off-stage.

This documentary took me by surprise because it not only made me laugh, but it showed me the struggle comedians have to go through to perform their material in different environments, and how their personal lives shape their material. The thing I liked about the movie was that it actually took me on a journey with these guys and I felt like I got to know them instead of just the same format most stand-up documentaries offer of strictly on stage performances. Again, Vince is pushing the envelope by doing things his way...resulting in a heartfelt, honest and hilarious journey on film. Great job, and keep doing things your way...it works!

In Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights—Hollywood to the Heartland, if the four relatively unknown comics (a "Guido," an Ohio rube, an Arab, and a non-descript guy) accompanying Vaughn on a 30 day tour of 30 cities had been better, the documentary would have been better as well. Sadly this tepid montage of the trip is rarely funny, rarely imaginative, although the infectious good will of Vaughn saves it from total banality.

Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian (2002) and the arch Aristocrats (2005) have far more humorous moments while also revealing the humanity of the performers. Vaughn tries with limited success to show the heart of the comics between acts, but, alas, not one is interesting enough to have more than a beer with.

As with most of these documentaries, there are only snippets of the acts and then cutting to another performer or a personal note. Thus, we can never understand fully why a comedian will or will not make the big time. One thing I do know, this January graveyard toss off will not make it big time. I'll ask you in December if you think it should be nominated for best documentary; you'll haveto research it on IMDb to remember.

In 2005, Vince Vaughn organizes a traveling road show starting from Hollywood. They would do 30 shows in 30 cities traveling across the country. He is joined by friends Jon Favreau, Justin Long and several standup comics. Along the way, there are special guests like Dwight Yoakam and Peter Billingsley.

The comedians aren't that funny. They've got a few lines but they aren't that funny. It would help for their personal stories if I like their sets more. It's nice to see Yoakam play and Peter Billingsley talk about his early friendship during the filming an anti-steroid abuse PSA. The behind the scenes stuff is more compelling. The self-doubt is interesting. Vince comes off as a nice friendly guy. There isn't enough on the humorous side but it does come with a side of humanity.