Saying something had "its fair share" of something doesn't mean anything. In comparison to what exactly? My recollection tells me Dodgeball has a handful of moments comparable to the humor in Hot Rod, but there isn't a modern day comedy that doesn't, so that doesn't mean anything. And yes, Hot Rod has a narrative, but its humor exists almost entirely outside of it. The moments that really bring the funny -- Rod's "quiet" place, the crap-your-pants move, Taco vs. Grilled Cheese, Cool Beans, etc -- could exist without the narrative. Yes, the narrative brings us to these moments (and bABA touched on this in his review), and that is what makes Hot Rod the great comedy it is. It creates a world where the narrative brings you to the non sequiturs that comprise the movie. Most comedies that attempt this kind of humor fail completely in that regard.

Anyways, this is a silly argument. We both enjoyed the movies at the center of the discussion.

The argument that Dodgeball & Hot Rod can't be grouped together in the faux-sports-underdog genre as I initially suggested is just bizarro!

Your grouping of comedies by humor style is so strict that you can't see the similarity I'm suggesting?

Oh wait... I get it! Your posts on this just an example of anti-humor? Boy, you guys pulled a fast one on me! That's actually pretty funny...

Hear, hear!!!



(But why is there only one "A" in the poll and two "D"s?)

I gave a D+

Thinking about the Anti-humor route- Hot Rod was one of the funniest films of all time, considering it had so many jokes that the audience would expect to be funny, but in turn wasn't.

Leslie Neilson is a master of Anti-humor saying unfunny things in an unfunny way, not Andy Sandberg. Which is a shame, I think he's the best part of SNL right now.

A fun, entertaining comedy. It wasn't laugh-out-loud hilarious, but Andy Samberg did a very good job with the material. Isla Fisher was also adorable, and a great deal of the supporting cast was funny as well. The script wasn't very original and the direction was average, but it was a decent summer comedy that deserves to find a wider audience.

B-

I thought it was pretty hilarious, myself. I was enjoying it enough, until the pool scene...there's a line like "Pools are so great for holding water"...and pretty much from there on out there was funny at every turn. It dragged a little and was (predictably) predictable, but hey, it was fun and funny, so that's good enough for me.

This film was so bad it was painful. I almost walked out about 40 minutes into the movie. Awful Awful Awful. The Cool Beans thing was so fucking stupid anyone who laughed at it should be not allowed to have children. Fuck this film

F.

I thought it was actually incredibly funny. Surprised the hell out of me.

7/10 ( B )

I feel sorry for those who knew nothing about Andy Samberg going into the movie. Sure I'm sure there are some people who haven't heard of him and still ended up liking the film, but it helps if you know about some of his stuff on SNL. That way you can appreciate how absurd this film gets at some points (the entire scene in the woods including Rod's tumble is easily the funniest scene in a film this year). That saying, I wasn't expecting a hell of a lot. I was expecting to be midly amused. What I didn't expect is that it's actually one of the funniest movies this year. I'd say it's fourth behind Knocked Up, Superbad and Hot Fuzz. If it weren't for a couple of brief dead patches and Chris Parnell doing absolutely nothing or worth (I like him, but he's not funny here), this would've been just as funny as those movies. And I mean that in all honesty. I was amazed at how consistent this film was at making me laugh. I really ended up enjoying it.

A-

Not my type of comedy, usually, but this is really, really funny.

Like, it's not "good," but it's hilarious. There are these random moments in the film that had me in tears, almost (good lord, that random chinese guy dancing - I couldn't handle it).

Predictable stuff otherwise, but yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

***

"I'm freakin' pumped! I've been drinking green tea all goddamn day!"

Seriously, one of the funniest movies from last year. Its absurdist humour reminded me a lot of Napoleon Dynamite, and that's probably why it's so divisive, but I found it almost completely hilarious from start to finish. Not just in its sight gags and non-narrative diversions, but also in its one-liners and almost subtle dialogue. The story is nothing new (but it's not supposed to be) and it's basically just an extended SNL skit, but at least it's a funny one. Given how hit-and-miss SNL can be, this is a welcome surprise.

Also, the scene in the forest is all kinds of awesome.

A funny little film but it gets a bit more laughs froma couple of its supporting actors (Hader & Arnett) then the main actor (Samberg). Still a fun hit and deserved a bit more box office.

B+

I can't say every joke works (Will Arnett's character kind of fails), but there's enough that do to make it one of last year's funniest. I think it's kind of the point that some fall on their face actually, the fact that they throw so many attempts at random, wtf humor out there makes the whole experience better and funnier as a whole.

Every 80s montage moment was pretty brilliant. And of course, the dancing guy.

Sensei.

4.5/5