From the trio of actors/writers Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone (who are all helping SNL break through with some really good seasons), Hot Rod came in-and-out of theaters in a flash earlier this year suffering poor box office results and mostly poor reviews.

Hot Rod is about loveable loser Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) a man-boy trying to make it as a stuntman in the vein of Evil Knievel.  He worships Knievel and his stuntman father who passed away when he was a small boy.  He organizes the neighborhood kids to watch him jump pools on his dirt bike and whatever else they can think of, and he usually fails miserably. 

When his stepfather Frank (Ian McShane), who he desperately wants approval from, is diagnosed with a heart condition only cured by transplant, Rod goes on a mission to raise enough money for Frank’s transplant doing his goofy stunts.  He enlists the help of his “crew”, basically his three best friends (Bill Hader, Jorma Taccone, and Danny McBride) who are even bigger losers than Rod, and even gets his neighbor hottie and schoolyard crush Denise (Isla Fisher) to join his crew.

Will Rod finally make it as a stuntman?  Will he finally make out with Denise?  Will he raise enough money for Frank so he can get healthy and then Rod can finally gain his respect (by kicking his ass!)?  The stakes are high.

CRITIQUE

Even though I fought it off as much as I could (because deep down I know I shouldn’t), I laughed a lot at Hot Rod.  At first, I thought I wouldn’t even make it through the whole movie until the scene where he needs to “punch dance” his anger out in the woods (which is a brilliant rip on Footloose).  After that hilarious scene, the film had me laughing most of the way through (it lags a bit in the middle but picks up steam at the end).

Since comedy is completely based on an individual’s taste and idea of what is funny, there is an easy test to figure out if this movie will make you laugh (and is worth your time).  If you love the later seasons of SNL, Billy Madison, Tommy Boy, Happy Gilmore and cheesy 80s films, I guarantee you’ll laugh at Hot Rod.  If any of these you find completely stupid and not funny, do not waste your time. 

The film is a quirky homage to those cheesy 80s film mixed with that slightly oft-kilter and random Adam Sandler humor.  And in that respect, it succeeds mightily.  But the funny thing is, I can see a huge majority of people thinking this film is awful and not laughing a bit.  I can only say that it worked for me and had me laughing out loud at times.

The cast is all game and there a few really hilarious performances.  The best of which is (by far) Ian McShane as Frank.  To be honest, I was shocked to see McShane in this and never got a hint that he had comedic chops from his great villainous roles in Deadwood and Sexy Beast.

But to my surprise he is just hilarious in this, constantly berating and fighting with Rod while being as sweet as can be to his wife (Sissy Spacek) and his brother (Taccone).  The final fight scene between him and Rod is one of the funniest fight scenes I’ve ever scene in a comedy.  Samberg is also quite good here using his laid back, deadpan, moronic charm in all the right ways (just like Sandler did in his early days).  His performance reminded me so much of Sandler, I half expected Rob Schneider to pop up with a “you can do it” or something.  It’ll be interesting to see if Samberg can use that same style of comedic acting to similar success as Sandler.

And the trio of Hader, McBride and Taccone (while over-the-top at times) gets some big laughs throughout.  There is a lot of talk around Danny McBride right now becoming the next Will Ferrell but from this I don’t see it.

THE VIDEO

The transfer (2.35:1 widescreen) looks great, the whole film is done in that subdued, 80s television look but is crystal clear.  The colors are vivid but not overly bright and the images come through sharp and clean.  I didn’t notice any clarity issues.

THE AUDIO

Hot Rod is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and the presentation is terrific as the subwoofers get a nice workout with all the motorcycle action and crashes.  The dialogue and soundtrack come through crystal clear.

THE EXTRAS

There are quite a lot of extras included for a film that performed as badly at the box office (the studio is obviously thinking it will do big numbers on DVD).

The Audio Commentary Track from director Schaffer, Samberg, and Taccone is very funny and light.  They really don’t get any other point across except that it was a blast to make and everyone was fun to work with, but it’s worth a listen (even if only for 20-30 minutes).

There is a very funny blooper reel, Outtakes Reel, that gives you a great idea of what a blast everyone has on set.

Ancestors Protect Me: Behind the Scenes of Hot Rod is a behind-the-scenes making of featurette which is just like the commentary track and the blooper reel in that it just shows how much fun they all had and what an amiable and light hearted group they are.  Nothing much of substance here and only worth a look for fans of the actors.

The best of the extras are the Deleted and Extended Scenes (which is almost never the case).  Almost all of these are funny and definitely worth a look.  They all have optional commentary by the three from the audio commentary.

There are also a bunch of very brief and random featurettes like Kevin’s Videos (more of the film footage used in the film for Rod’s movie), Punch Dance (a short look at the Footloose scene) and Home Video of the Orchestra Recording Session (self-explanatory).  There is less than 10 minutes of footage combined here and it is all mildly amusing but nothing fantastic.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Hot Rod is a quirky, strange little comedy that will put off more people than it will satisfy but it had me laughing most of the way through and has some spot-on, hilarious performances.  The DVD has some funny extras and a great transfer.