Post by TheOogieBoogieMan on Feb 6, 2008 15:46:42 GMT -5
I realize that I'm putting my taste in movies into question by following my negative review of No Country For Old Men, which has received strong critical acclaim, with a positive review of Dude, Where's My Car?, which has received strong critical un-acclaim. I'm fine with that; I never said I had a great taste in movies, anyway.
I also realize that it's somewhat redundant to write a positive review of Dude when so many MRFH writers have already given the movie their endorsements, albeit some to a stronger degree than others. I'm fine with that, too; redundancy was always one of my strong suits.
I don't feel I need to summarize Dude's plot. There isn't even really a plot. There's just a set-up, and it's right in the title: someone's car is missing, and it has to be found. The rest of the movie is the punch-line.
There are two things in particular that I like about Dude, Where's My Car?, and they aren't exactly related, so don't expect any fancy segues or anything like that. This review is gonna be a bumpy ride, baby!
The first thing that I like is that Dude is pretty much an alternative to the "teen-gross-out" genre that movies like American Pie gave birth to at the turn of the millennium. With the exceptions of some drug and sexually-related humour, both of which are treated so childishly, it's almost endearing, Dude manages to walk a clean line and avoids the gross-out sight gags and extremely vulgar dialogue that were cliches even when the movie was released almost ten years ago. I'm not easily offended by vulgarity, but I find it refreshing to see a teen comedy try something really different to get laughs than the usual "boy humping dessert" jokes that we've come to know and, in the cases of some people, love.
And that's the other thing I really like about Dude, Where's My Car?: where it does find its humour. Hmm, I guess the transition wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be...
In the audio commentary found on my Ghostbusters DVD, someone whose name I don't remember (I'm assuming they were somehow involved in making the film) talks about a domino effect in movie-making, where a movie has to start small and then get bigger and bigger and weirder and weirder in order to keep the viewer's interest. If Ghostbusters had started with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, not only would the rest of the movie seem anti-climactic, but the audience would be alienated by the sudden weirdness. Instead, we start out small with the Librarian Ghost, then we move to Slimer, then we get Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis turning into demonic dogs. That gradual progression onward and upward keeps the audience in tune with the movie.
Think of it as slowly submerging yourself into the hot waters of a comedic bath. You don't want to just plop in, otherwise the water will feel too hot and you won't be comfortable. And really, hasn't that happened to all of us at one time or another? Right??? Don't leave me hanging now.
Anyway, Dude, Where's My Car? takes the same "domino" approach. The movie starts out innocently enough, with a simple search for a Houdini-Car, but by the end, the escalation of weirdness has been so extreme, yet so smooth, that one can't help but get caught up in the insanity. The film makes up its own rules as it goes along, but it does so in a way that made me accept the game for what it was. Andy Dick imprisoned on an ostrich farm? Sure, why not?! Go ahead and throw in a couple Swedish aliens and a scene with Fabio while you're at it! Good times for all, I say!
Compare that to a movie like the Prestige, which follows a straight and narrow path and then unloads a twist ending so far out of nowhere that I felt my intelligence was insulted. If I may bring back my "hot water" analogies, the Prestige made me feel like a lobster being dropped head-first into my aquatic doom*.
I'm probably being too academic in analyzing a movie that stars the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott, but there is a method to the freewheeling madness of Dude, Where's My Car?. All that aside, though, this movie is fun. It's also juvenile, immature, and, for all intents and purposes, dumb, but those traits aren't necessarily bad when the movie itself is so enjoyable.
So to those of you who have been holding out, give Dude, Where's My Car? a spin on the old digital-videola. If you end up feeling guilty for liking such a low-brow dung pile, just follow your viewing of Dude, Where's My Car? with some episodes of Fraiser. Fraiser will make everything aaalllllriiiiiiight.
*I was going to post a review for the Prestige as well, but that little blurb sums up my feelings for the movie well enough.
I also realize that it's somewhat redundant to write a positive review of Dude when so many MRFH writers have already given the movie their endorsements, albeit some to a stronger degree than others. I'm fine with that, too; redundancy was always one of my strong suits.
I don't feel I need to summarize Dude's plot. There isn't even really a plot. There's just a set-up, and it's right in the title: someone's car is missing, and it has to be found. The rest of the movie is the punch-line.
There are two things in particular that I like about Dude, Where's My Car?, and they aren't exactly related, so don't expect any fancy segues or anything like that. This review is gonna be a bumpy ride, baby!
The first thing that I like is that Dude is pretty much an alternative to the "teen-gross-out" genre that movies like American Pie gave birth to at the turn of the millennium. With the exceptions of some drug and sexually-related humour, both of which are treated so childishly, it's almost endearing, Dude manages to walk a clean line and avoids the gross-out sight gags and extremely vulgar dialogue that were cliches even when the movie was released almost ten years ago. I'm not easily offended by vulgarity, but I find it refreshing to see a teen comedy try something really different to get laughs than the usual "boy humping dessert" jokes that we've come to know and, in the cases of some people, love.
And that's the other thing I really like about Dude, Where's My Car?: where it does find its humour. Hmm, I guess the transition wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be...
In the audio commentary found on my Ghostbusters DVD, someone whose name I don't remember (I'm assuming they were somehow involved in making the film) talks about a domino effect in movie-making, where a movie has to start small and then get bigger and bigger and weirder and weirder in order to keep the viewer's interest. If Ghostbusters had started with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, not only would the rest of the movie seem anti-climactic, but the audience would be alienated by the sudden weirdness. Instead, we start out small with the Librarian Ghost, then we move to Slimer, then we get Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis turning into demonic dogs. That gradual progression onward and upward keeps the audience in tune with the movie.
Think of it as slowly submerging yourself into the hot waters of a comedic bath. You don't want to just plop in, otherwise the water will feel too hot and you won't be comfortable. And really, hasn't that happened to all of us at one time or another? Right??? Don't leave me hanging now.
Anyway, Dude, Where's My Car? takes the same "domino" approach. The movie starts out innocently enough, with a simple search for a Houdini-Car, but by the end, the escalation of weirdness has been so extreme, yet so smooth, that one can't help but get caught up in the insanity. The film makes up its own rules as it goes along, but it does so in a way that made me accept the game for what it was. Andy Dick imprisoned on an ostrich farm? Sure, why not?! Go ahead and throw in a couple Swedish aliens and a scene with Fabio while you're at it! Good times for all, I say!
Compare that to a movie like the Prestige, which follows a straight and narrow path and then unloads a twist ending so far out of nowhere that I felt my intelligence was insulted. If I may bring back my "hot water" analogies, the Prestige made me feel like a lobster being dropped head-first into my aquatic doom*.
I'm probably being too academic in analyzing a movie that stars the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott, but there is a method to the freewheeling madness of Dude, Where's My Car?. All that aside, though, this movie is fun. It's also juvenile, immature, and, for all intents and purposes, dumb, but those traits aren't necessarily bad when the movie itself is so enjoyable.
So to those of you who have been holding out, give Dude, Where's My Car? a spin on the old digital-videola. If you end up feeling guilty for liking such a low-brow dung pile, just follow your viewing of Dude, Where's My Car? with some episodes of Fraiser. Fraiser will make everything aaalllllriiiiiiight.
*I was going to post a review for the Prestige as well, but that little blurb sums up my feelings for the movie well enough.
