Hot Rod

source: Hot Rod

I got to see an early preview of this movie and I hope they have time to edit it in what ever way they can to improve on it before it comes out Aug 3rd. It stars Andy Samberg from Saturday Night Live as 'Hot' Rod Kimble. He's plays a teenager in a small town who wants to be a stunt man like his late father. When we meet him, he's jumping a mail truck on his mo-ped, yes, a mo-ped, and almost makes it. This would be worthy of a 'Jackass' movie if he wasn't honestly trying to do this. Isla Fisher plays the slightly older and much more mature girl-next-door, Denise. She seems to like Rod enough to join his 'crew'. Jorma Taccone (also SNL) plays his half brother, Kevin, who documents the stunts with a camcorder. Sissy Spacek plays Rod's mom, Marie. She remarried Frank Powell, played by Ian McShane. Frank's a real tough guy who enjoys beating Rod in some real drag out brawls. It's clear that Rod's not going to earn Frank's respect till he can beat him. We find out Frank needs a $50,000. heart transplant and Rod is determined to raise the money just so he 'can beat his ass' once he's healed, and prove himself a man. A long fall down a mountain side convinces Rod to 'go big' on one stunt. Rod sets out to get seed money by charging for doing stunts that would make you cringe if you saw them in real life. Like the human torch- at a children's birthday party. There were those at the showing who managed to laugh at most of the stunts. Just when all hope and money is lost, along comes a sponsor who saves the day by getting the 15 school buses Rod wants to jump. He gets exclusive broadcast rights and sets up phone lines to get donations. Rod gets a new outfit and a real motorcycle. The whole town turns out and the world tunes in. Does he make the jump? Does he get the girl? Do they raise the $50k? Does Frank get his ass beat by Rod? Wait till this 90 minute movie comes out on video to find out.

I hadn't seen Andy Samberg in any film before this but decided to watch Hot Rod because it was regularly popping up in some forum threads where people were recommending comedies. Man, what a massive disappointment. Andy Samberg just doesn't have the charisma or the talent to carry a movie. He's just annoying, boring and unlikable. The lines weren't delivered well and often the scenes were really drawn out (cool beans anyone?). The over the top laughing wasn't that great either. Most of the time it relies on physical comedy (Samberg failing a stunt) which is too obvious and unfunny. Then there's a lot of stuff which is just way out there, maybe they were some inside jokes between the production crew? I don't know. The film just tries too hard to be absurd and moronic to be funny. Also, what's up with that Asian guy humping the air? There were too many scenes where he was doing just that. I'm not sure who finds that funny. I also don't think there was any chemistry between the actors. I could really see that they were acting and therefore the characters didn't seem real. It is extremely rare for me to start thinking "Yeah, that guy's clearly trying to act there". Not the case with Hot Rod as I was constantly taken away from the movie with the horrible acting. A completely amateurish attempt at movie making. I didn't laugh once during the movie. And it's supposed to be a comedy! I have no idea why this movie has so many raving reviews on this site.

I got up and walked out. And I saw it on an airplane. OK, I didn't literally walk out, but I unplugged the head phones and stopped watching. Sitting in total boredom during the flight was preferable to this feeble attempt at a film. I had just seen the predictably asinine romantic comedy "License to Wed" on a flight the week before and thought that it couldn't get any worse than that. It most certainly did with "Hot Rod". Amateurish best describes the film. It looks like what a film might look like if a group of high school kids got together and made a movie. I stopped watching after about 30 minutes and there was nothing even remotely humorous in that time. Based on the silence on the plane and comments from the few who actually listened to the entire film, nobody else on the flight found anything amusing either. The rave reviews found here for a film so obviously flawed and deficient are extremely suspicious. I suspect many of the reviewers are the same person, likely involved in the film. Check the reviewers history and see how many have never written another review for the answer. The rest are mind dead teens who think "Snakes on a Plane" was a great film.

I saw Hot Rod a while ago at a screening and I have to say it is the most funny movie ever. This is the way comedy should be. Free, Silly and Funny. The jokes are just fresh and the actors are great. Andy Samberg is great as the leading man but the supporting cast (Bill Hader, Ian Mcshan, Chris Parnell, Jorma Taconne and Will Arnett) also really stand out. Besides from the jokes the action is enjoyable too. I heard people comparing it to Napolion Dinamite but I can't see that. It has his own vibe and is not really comparable with any movie. The style is a bit more rawer than the usual comedy and that makes it original. I highly recommend to go see it if you want a good laugh! If you are a Lonely Island fan you will not be disappointed. It has the same silliness. Nothing but Love for this movie!

First off, to give you some idea of my taste in movies... 2007 Comedies I enjoyed: Superbad, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, Blades Of Glory 2007 Comedies I hated: Evan Almighty, The Brothers Solomon, Good Luck Chuck I should have followed my first instinct and turned off "Hot Rod" after I got to about the 20 minute mark. I knew by that point that this movie would not make me laugh once. The script is absolutely brutal - I have no idea how this monstrosity managed to crack 6 on IMDb. Any one older than 10 years old who enjoyed this must be some kind of mental defective. This doesn't come close to anything with Will Farrell and it's clear that Andy Samberg can't carry anything longer than a 5 to 10 minute sketch on YouTube or SNL. I don't know how they roped Ian McShane and Isla Fisher into doing this movie... they must have owed favors or something. I came in knowing that it would be a dumb movie, but I thought it would at least be funny. I didn't so much as smirk. I don't normally comment on movies at IMDb, but this was so awful, I just had to warn people. This is only the 4th movie I've seen that I've felt compelled to rate 1/10.

When viewing a movie as silly as 'Hot Rod,' one must sit back, relax, and alter one's intellectual capacity to a like state – which is, in this case, a state dimwitted enough to endure brainless drivel that has somehow been mistaken for comedy. With a brief runtime of 88 minutes, this film was long past drawn-out and buried itself beneath a bundle of repetitive jokes – jokes that came at a minority and weren't even funny in the first place. 'Hot Rod''s base material is as superficial and irrelevant as 2004's cult hit 'Napoleon Dynamite,' though it's much more contrived and comes without ANY of the laughter. In fact, the movie's blatant desperation to be compared to 'Napoleon Dynamite' is scornful and offensive, and left me ticked off, instead of just being annoyed. The movie, if one were compelled enough to call it such, poses a paltry story that puts self-proclaimed stuntman Rod Kimble before us, with the trifling intention of jumping fifteen buses (one more than his idol Evel Knievel jumped, so we're told by Rod) and raising $50,000 dollars for his stepfather's impending life-saving heart operation; all so that he can fight his stepfather, once recovered, and gain his respect… because in order to gain one's respect, one must first fight them. Huh? Whatever. Each character is no more interesting than Rod's stick-on mustache, and from the film's opening joke to its ridiculous conclusion, each scene played like a nonsensical, and terribly unfunny, SNL skit – which, with the addition of an extra 85 minutes, is, essentially, what 'Hot Rod' strives to be. The film's star, Andy Samberg, contributed an effort to the screen that observably exerted every last drip-drop of his comedic capabilities. Unfortunately – rather, realistically – his humorous talents are no more admirable than a five-year-old retelling his own exhausted joke that somewhere includes the innocently crude poop and pee-pee gags. And if that's disappointing, pull a chair, hide your face in your hands, and brace yourself for the real blow: he IS the film's humor! To rescue them of their mortification, I'll willingly omit the ghastliness of Samberg's co-stars' roles and leave the second third of The Lonely Island team, director Akiva Schaffer, to his non-existent talent as a director… or a comedian. Basically, every thing one could possibly do to further trample a crash-course comedy is perfectly portrayed here; and done so arrogantly, as though the film would be funnier that way. Trick yourself into believing that there's even a single laugh in this heap, or treat yourself to another movie – ANY other movie.

This film screened in Minneapolis last night (at which they also distributed free T-shirts, pins and fake mustaches) and I have not laughed this hard in a very long time. I laughed so hard it made my stomach hurt, and that hasn't happened to me in a movie in years. It reminded me very much of Will Ferrell's "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights," but even moreso it seems like a throwback to the kind of movies Adam Sandler used to make. There's a lot of "Billy Madison"-inspired randomness and absurdity that just cracked me up, and the stunts look truly dangerous. I will not say anymore about this film except I can't wait to see it again when it opens August 3rd and I think Andy Samberg could explode after this film. Not literally, let's hope.

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.

This is by far in my top three best and funniest movies! An absolutely hilarious film guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Andy Samberg (from Saturday Night Live) plays Rod Kimble an aspiring stuntman trying to live up to his dead father's legacy, unfortunately he lacks the necessary aspect: any talent whatsoever. But backed by supportive friends. Along with Lonely Island best friends Akiva Shaffer as director and Jorma Taccone as his step-brother team up to create this great comedy equals pure awesomeness! And Bill Hader as a friend and fellow team member Dave made me laugh so much too! From the most epic fall down a hill, safe word "WHiskey," Satan for a stepfather, killer dance moves and a Tai-Chi move guaranteed to make a grown man crap his pants and not know why. Hot Rod is quite the adventure. I would love to live in a town like that. And after this movie you probably won't be able to look at stunting or mopeds the same way again. Be sure to rent or buy this movie and the extras are pretty awesome. "Life is pain - we've got to scrape the joy from it every chance we get."