I watched this film for the first time in September 2013, with my wife, broadcast on TV quite late at night. Not paying to see the film, not seeing it in 2007, and seeing it after some of the actors have become more familiar provides an altogether different perspective, and possibly this film's reputation deserves some rehabilitation.
The fact that we only started to watch it during the 'Nacho Libre' scene and didn't change the channel immediately I think has to be a sort of recommendation. In fact after settling into it we managed to watch it through to the end. And it wasn't completely terrible!
There's a mixed bag of humour, from very obvious visual gags, contemporary cultural references and parodies, and the whole storyline is creatively stitched together in a kind of absurdist humour, reminiscent of Monty Python.
It was quite nice during the character introduction to recognise actors like Jayma Mays, Kal Penn, and later Jennifer Coolidge, from their later appearances in hit US comedy shows: Glee, How I Met Your Mother, and Two Broke Girls. But of course six years ago they were still relatively unknown, and so that dimension of familiar recognition would have been lost. Shame. But it speaks highly that the casting director picked out such talent back then, and they each play their roles quite well.
As a TV movie it definitely works, and approached with low expectations can be pleasantly surprising. It doesn't look 'cheap': the indoor sets are very creative and well finished, the photography is pretty good, and as mentioned the talent also delivers. It doesn't take itself seriously, at any point, and frequently breaks the fourth-wall to remind you of the kind of movie that you're watching.
Even the cultural references have a kind of a point now. This films dates itself very firmly by references to the source material of the time (all of which I saw back then) so it was nice to be reminded of those other great films that I did enjoy, six years ago. I doubt I'd watch it again though. I certainly would not have paid money to see it, but then professional film critics never pay either...
The fact that we only started to watch it during the 'Nacho Libre' scene and didn't change the channel immediately I think has to be a sort of recommendation. In fact after settling into it we managed to watch it through to the end. And it wasn't completely terrible!
There's a mixed bag of humour, from very obvious visual gags, contemporary cultural references and parodies, and the whole storyline is creatively stitched together in a kind of absurdist humour, reminiscent of Monty Python.
It was quite nice during the character introduction to recognise actors like Jayma Mays, Kal Penn, and later Jennifer Coolidge, from their later appearances in hit US comedy shows: Glee, How I Met Your Mother, and Two Broke Girls. But of course six years ago they were still relatively unknown, and so that dimension of familiar recognition would have been lost. Shame. But it speaks highly that the casting director picked out such talent back then, and they each play their roles quite well.
As a TV movie it definitely works, and approached with low expectations can be pleasantly surprising. It doesn't look 'cheap': the indoor sets are very creative and well finished, the photography is pretty good, and as mentioned the talent also delivers. It doesn't take itself seriously, at any point, and frequently breaks the fourth-wall to remind you of the kind of movie that you're watching.
Even the cultural references have a kind of a point now. This films dates itself very firmly by references to the source material of the time (all of which I saw back then) so it was nice to be reminded of those other great films that I did enjoy, six years ago. I doubt I'd watch it again though. I certainly would not have paid money to see it, but then professional film critics never pay either...
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