6/10
Contains a relative amount of laughs, but the novelty wears off after a while
4 March 2007
Bob Saget is a talented comedian, without a doubt. Anyone who only knows him from "Full House" and "America's Funniest Home Videos" is missing out on a lot. He is by no means a wholesome, family-oriented comedian that most people expect. His brand of comedy is uniquely edgy, and the fact that these dirty things are coming out of Danny Tanner's mouth makes him even funnier. Like with one of his previous directorial efforts "Dirty Work," "Farce of the Penguins" has several moments where you're laughing at the film more than with it. Unfortunately, this film has way too moments where it breaks the fourth wall, with moments like two French penguins (supposedly from the hit "March of the Penguins") watching the film and snobbishly criticizing it for being too crude. I can't deny that I was laughing throughout at least 70 percent of the film. It's certainly not a bad idea for a film: Making a parody of "MOTP" by using found footage and providing funny voice-overs. But like I said, the novelty wears off after a while. What is the novelty? The penguins are supposedly talking to each other...yet their mouths don't move. OK, I know you're supposed to suspend disbelief when watching movies, but this is a little too much disbelief to suspend. Even if this were an animated flick, the penguins mouths would be moving, helping the audience suspend disbelief. The voices are provided by tons of talented comedians, including (one of my favorites) Lewis Black, Whoopi Goldberg, Mo'Nique, Carlos Mencia, and Mario Cantone. Luckily, the way overrated Dane Cook only has a small cameo. The main voices are provided by Saget and Black, who both deliver plenty of laughs. OK, I'm not going to totally bash the film's visuals. There are moments where the stock footage is used wisely. Saget had a lot of experience providing voice-overs to found footage when he hosted "America's Funniest Home Videos." I'm sure that helped him conjure up the idea for this film. But film is, after all, a visual medium. So watching the same boring shots of penguins waddling across the ice or simply standing around gets tiresome after a while. I appreciate Saget's effort, but the idea could've been executed more effectively. Look out for Gilbert Gottfried's cameo. It's probably the funniest moment in the film.
8 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed