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

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 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.

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!

Vince Vaughn please (with my sincere apologies to Ray Charles): "Hit the road jack, and do please come back for more for more, hit the road jack and do please come back for more". Why? Because "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show" was a comedic trip a la crop from the Hollywood to the Heartland. In this delightful documentary, Vince recruits four extremely talented but inexperienced comedians in his comedic posse for a Comedy Tour: the Arab jokester Ahmed Ahmed, the chunky foul-mouthed John Caparulo, the Italian man's man storyteller Sebastian Maniscalco, and the charismatic charmer Bret Ernst. The Vaughn Gang also includes best friend and producer partner Peter Billingsley, and the always fluid Justin Long. However, the comedic shows in the tour primarily feature the comedic performances of the aforementioned Funny Fearsome Foursome. This gang of laugh providers hit the road on a tour bus for 30 days and implausibly enough did 30 shows within that time span; even overcoming hurricane warnings in a few cities. Being an obsessed fan of the cult classic film "Swingers", the most money part of the "Vaughnumentary" for me is when Vaughn reunites with Swingers pal Jon Favreau and they both have Justin Long take a swing on reciting Vaughn's infamous money lines in the film. Not to say I did not enjoy the laugh-out-loud comedic routines from Ahmed, Caparulo, Maniscalco, and Ernst; the capping edge going to Caparulo's hilarious ruthless sets. These are four genuine (or in second thought maybe not too genuine) comedians; but whatever they case, I do stand up for them and vouch that they will have bright stand-up comedic futures ahead of them. Nevertheless, the charismatic laugh ringmaster of the "Wild West Comedy Show" is Vince Vaughn himself who is the V-Great King that orchestrated this dandy documentary that had all our funny juices flowing! You are still money, Mr. Vaughn! ***** Excellent

I just got back from a free preview of this movie at school and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was laughing almost the whole time. Listening to them talk about themselves and each other helped to gain an insight to the tour. Also, being able to hear their back stories helped to understand where their material came from. After the viewing, Bret Ernst came out for a Q&A with the audience and he's a great guy. He's very humble about this movie and what it's doing for not only his career, but for the career of the rest of the guys on the tour. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to laugh. This isn't a straight up comedy movie, but a documentary about the tour with parts of the tour mixed in. It's a funny movie with heart that shows what these guys go through to entertain us to make us laugh.