Hello everyone. Good to see you all again. The backlog is getting trimmed down ever so steadily. All that's left now is The Weather Underground, The Fog of War, Baby Geniuses and SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2. Should be fun. Come on back.
Without a Paddle
Review by Jon Waterman
**
Three friends go out on a rafting trip to come to terms with their friend’s death and their somewhat recent jump into adulthood. They take a treasure map they made as kids and go out to a backwoods river to search it out. Soon, they get caught up in more than they expected, including boating disasters, unfriendly locals and the unfortunate forces of nature.
The plot is something of a mix between “Crossroads” and “City Slickers.” You have old high school friends coming together after an important event and opening up a long-forgotten box, which sparks the idea of embarking on a journey of self-discovery. Also you have three friends dealing with their “third-life” crises by leaving everything else behind to take themselves out of their element and have an adventure. You can quickly make a case for a “Deliverance” combined with “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” comparison by adding the backwoods, Burt Reynolds, weed and party references and wacky off-the-wall random hijinx, but you have to subtract the squealing pig element (thankfully).
No matter what you wish the movie was or could have been, it isn’t. It isn’t as cheesy or lame as “Crossroads.” It’s not as interesting or funny as “City Slickers.” It isn’t as dramatic or good as “Deliverance.” It isn’t as unsystematic or crazy as “Harold and Kumar.” It may not be a lot of things, but it does still have some redeeming factors. The majority of this is the good characterization. We get to know the three leads (Matthew Lillard, Seth Green, Dax Shepard) quickly and not because they are totally two-dimensional, either. It would have been nice to see them spend more time with Billy (the dead one), so the motivation was stronger and more clear-cut. The supporting cast on the other hand isn’t as strong. They don’t really need to be. I wish there was a mainstream comedy that didn’t include an idiot character. Just once. While redneck stereotypes aren’t perpetuated in their actions, they’re still made fun of with assumptions by the fish-out-of-water city types.
The script is moderately funny. That doesn’t sound all that positive, but I’ll say it until it’s untrue: comedy is hard to get right. They rely a bit too much on the stupidity of one of the antagonists. They rely a lot on gross out humor and masculinity questioning situations, which could have been pulled off more effectively. The choice of the song “Bump and Grind” became the saving grace of the huddle for warmth scene. The funniest stuff were the jokes unrelated to the story or script. Random insults to each other or conversational bits not directed to the action. Just remember, wacky doesn’t equal funny. It takes all kinds of clever to make it really hit the hilarious bone.
So, it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. It wasn’t as good as I would have liked it to be. What struck me the most is that these guys claim to be (and actually are) 30. Maybe they should make a movie about three actors, on their way to transitioning their careers into adult-oriented ones, head off on one last teen-focused romp for cheap laughs. Hope you enjoyed the ride, boys. Welcome to limbo.
Without a Paddle
Review by Jon Waterman
**
Three friends go out on a rafting trip to come to terms with their friend’s death and their somewhat recent jump into adulthood. They take a treasure map they made as kids and go out to a backwoods river to search it out. Soon, they get caught up in more than they expected, including boating disasters, unfriendly locals and the unfortunate forces of nature.
The plot is something of a mix between “Crossroads” and “City Slickers.” You have old high school friends coming together after an important event and opening up a long-forgotten box, which sparks the idea of embarking on a journey of self-discovery. Also you have three friends dealing with their “third-life” crises by leaving everything else behind to take themselves out of their element and have an adventure. You can quickly make a case for a “Deliverance” combined with “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” comparison by adding the backwoods, Burt Reynolds, weed and party references and wacky off-the-wall random hijinx, but you have to subtract the squealing pig element (thankfully).
No matter what you wish the movie was or could have been, it isn’t. It isn’t as cheesy or lame as “Crossroads.” It’s not as interesting or funny as “City Slickers.” It isn’t as dramatic or good as “Deliverance.” It isn’t as unsystematic or crazy as “Harold and Kumar.” It may not be a lot of things, but it does still have some redeeming factors. The majority of this is the good characterization. We get to know the three leads (Matthew Lillard, Seth Green, Dax Shepard) quickly and not because they are totally two-dimensional, either. It would have been nice to see them spend more time with Billy (the dead one), so the motivation was stronger and more clear-cut. The supporting cast on the other hand isn’t as strong. They don’t really need to be. I wish there was a mainstream comedy that didn’t include an idiot character. Just once. While redneck stereotypes aren’t perpetuated in their actions, they’re still made fun of with assumptions by the fish-out-of-water city types.
The script is moderately funny. That doesn’t sound all that positive, but I’ll say it until it’s untrue: comedy is hard to get right. They rely a bit too much on the stupidity of one of the antagonists. They rely a lot on gross out humor and masculinity questioning situations, which could have been pulled off more effectively. The choice of the song “Bump and Grind” became the saving grace of the huddle for warmth scene. The funniest stuff were the jokes unrelated to the story or script. Random insults to each other or conversational bits not directed to the action. Just remember, wacky doesn’t equal funny. It takes all kinds of clever to make it really hit the hilarious bone.
So, it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. It wasn’t as good as I would have liked it to be. What struck me the most is that these guys claim to be (and actually are) 30. Maybe they should make a movie about three actors, on their way to transitioning their careers into adult-oriented ones, head off on one last teen-focused romp for cheap laughs. Hope you enjoyed the ride, boys. Welcome to limbo.
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