Rod Kimble (Saturday Night Live regular Andy Samberg) is a legendary stuntman. Well, a legendary stuntman in his own mind and that of his friends (and teammates) stepbrother Kevin (Jorma Taccone), mechanic Dave (Bill Hader) and ramp builder Rico (Danny McBride). Everyone else, including loving mom Marie (Sissy Spacek) and especially stepdad Frank (Ian McShane), don’t really see it, most of them going to his stunt exhibits to see him fall on his face more than anything else.

Andy Samberg and Isla Fisher in Paramount Pictures' Hot Rod

Things change, though, when Rod learns Frank is going to die unless he can raise the $50,000 for a heart transplant. Now, the desire to save his cantankerous stepfather and beat the crap out of him running through his blood like virus, this man who believes he’s the son of Evel Knievel’s beloved test-rider is going to attempt the impossible.  

With lovely next door neighbor Denise (Isla Fisher) helping he and his team out, Rod is going to jump 15 buses – one more than Knievel – and raise the money. It will be the stunt of a lifetime, an entire town turning our and tuning in to the A.M. radio to see if this daredevil with a heart full of rage can pull of the impossible or, at the very least, look like a complete buffoon attempting to do so.

I’m not sure what I can really say about Hot Rod. Films of this type (think Napoleon Dynamite crossed with Superstar with a little bit of South Park thrown in for good measure) aren’t usually my thing, and by and large this one is really no exception. The problem is, the times I did laugh here I laughed so hard I had snot running out my nose and, considering how expensive the jacket I had on was, how great my makeup looked and that I was out on a date with a really cute guy, that’s not exactly something I relish admitting.

But it’s the truth (or at least a soemwhat kinda close approximation of the truth) and because of that I must admit I sort of got a kick out of this weirdly enjoyable scatterbrained concoction. It’s not going to win any awards or be all that well remembered in a couple of years, but for the moment at least it has just enough going for it to make me smile. Samberg is a likeable enough performer, Spacek and McShane make surprisingly good comic foils, and Fisher is so lovingly endearing I wanted to take her home with me and put her on a shelf with one of my Barbie Dolls.

All-in-all, I had a pretty decent time. Writer Pam Brady’s (Team America: World Police) script is bouncy and light on its feat (with just enough politically incorrect irreverence to stay uncomfortably comical) while fellow SNL alum Akiva Schaffer (he directed the obscenely popular “D**k in a Box” skit with Justin Timberlake) does pretty well for a rookie. The movie moves well, doesn’t overstay its welcome and has just enough absurd irreverence to maintain interest.

That doesn’t make it great, of course. There are some giant lulls, and some of the scenes (most notably a rather obnoxious and boringly unfunny training montage) just sit there as if in some weird post-mortem rigor mortis-ready limbo. Yet the funny bits do indeed come (an ode to Footloose in the middle of the forest had me dying in giggle-induced tears), and one scene of a cast member holding a television set almost had me on the floor doubled over with shocked laughter.

And that’s really all there is to say. I don’t really think I’ll feel the same way after a second viewing (goodness knows Napoleon Dynamite has failed to hold up), but for this one night Hot Rod had me pleasantly amused. It’s not a lot but it is enough, and saying I think people won’t feel too badly burned if they catch a matinee isn’t a stunt I’ll ever regret performing. 

Now, if I only I could figure out why my guest for the screening hasn’t called me for a second date…

Film Rating: êê1/2  (out of 4)

Additional Links

-  Hot Rod interview with Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer by Sara Michelle Fetters
-  Hot Rod Theatrical Trailer