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Hot Rod
Movie Stats & Links

Starring: Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher, Sissy Spacek, Will Arnett
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Paramount Pictures
Web Site: www.hotrodmovie.com
Kiddie Movie: Not too young, but most will laugh as Rod crashes into things.
Date Movie: Only is she is easily amused.
Gratuitous Sex: Some talk, and I couldn't help buy keep looking at Denise's boobs.
Gratuitous Violence: Rod and Frank keep fighting.
Action: Nah.
Laughs: I did, and I can't say I'm proud of it.
Memorable Scene: The "Footloose" scene.
Memorable Quote: Nothing really stood out.
Directed By: Akiva Schaffer
Produced By: John Goldwyn, Lorne Michaels

Hot Rod
A Movie Review

MPAA Rated - PG-13

It's 1:28 Long

A Review by
The Dude on the Right
There was a scene during "Hot Rod" where I knew I was old, and yet knew that I haven’t grown up. I say that because, of the ten people in the theater at the time, and two of them parents bringing their kids, I was the only one laughing. I knew I was old because it was a scene mimicking the movie "Footloose" so I absolutely understood the joke, whereas the kids in the audience didn’t find it funny, and I knew I haven’t grown up because the parents, who probably saw "Footloose" and could at least get the joke, weren’t laughing. Let’s get to the story…

Andy Samberg is Rod. He thinks and dreams of being a great stuntman, mostly putting his moped through experiences a moped should never go through. He has his friends and half brother helping him, and is love with the neighbor girl, Denise (Isla Fisher), and who wouldn’t be? In any case, with his biological dad dead at an early age, Rod has been spending his life trying to prove to his step-dad, Frank (Ian McShane), that he is a man, mostly by having fights with Frank in the basement where Frank pretty much just kicks the crap out of Rod. Frank, though, has a bad ticker, and Rod can’t stand to see him die before he can kick the crap out of Frank. The heart transplant will cost $50,000 and Rod decides he will raise the money by jumping a bunch of buses.

So Rod trains for the big jump, tries to raise enough money to actually put on the jump, things don’t go as planned, but thank goodness for an AM radio station coming in to sponsor the jump.

Does Rod make the jump? Does Rod make enough money for the heart transplant? Does Rod get the girl? Does Rod finally kick the crap out of Frank? Does the movie tell you why men sometimes pee in two directions at once? All of these questions and more are answered by the time the credits roll.

The movie is as stupid as the trailer shows it to be, but I have to admit that there were some funny moments, if you are old enough to understand them, and more importantly, haven’t grown up either. The thing is, though, that I think the movie could have actually worked its way into cult classic status if they tightened things up just a bit, and I’m sad to say, didn’t have Andy Samberg as Rod. For whatever reason Samberg just didn’t seem to be the person for the role, almost like he was trying to be Will Ferrell a lot of times, and it just didn’t work for me. Oh well.

I suppose, in the end, there were a couple of really funny moments for me, two of them being the "Footloose" scene and the scene through town on the way to the big jump, but they probably won’t be funny for you. I also loved the music during the movie, with a lot of emphasis on 80’s hair metal.

In the end I’ll give "Hot Rod" 2 Stars out of 5, but it easily had the potential for 3 or 4. Isla Fisher was as adorable as ever, but Adam Samberg needs to create his own persona instead of trying to be the next Will Ferrell.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

 

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