Review: "A Night at the Roxbury" is Sometimes Funny (Happy B'day, Will Ferrell)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 154 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Night at the Roxbury (1998)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sex related humor, language and some drug content
DIRECTOR: John Fortenberry
WRITERS: Steven Koren and Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan
PRODUCERS: Amy Heckerling and Lorne Michaels
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Francis Kenny
EDITOR: Jay Kamen
COMPOSER: David Kitay

COMEDY

Starring: Chris Kattan, Will Ferrell, Dan Hedaya, Molly Shannon, Richard Grieco, Loni Anderson, Lochlyn Munro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Dwayne Hickman, Meredith Scott Lynn, Colin Quinn, Elisa Donovan, Gigi Rice, Jennifer Coolidge, and (uncredited) Chazz Palminteri

The subject of this movie review is A Night at the Roxbury, a 1998 American comedy film starring Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell. The film is based on the long-running “Saturday Night Live” skit called “The Roxbury Guys,” which also featured Kattan and Ferrell. Amy Heckerling, the director of such films as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Look Who’s Talking, and Clueless, is one of the film’s producers, and she also apparently directed some of this film.

Doug (Chris Kattan) and Steve Butabi (Will Ferrell) are the Roxbury Guys, a long-running skit Kattan and Ferrell performed while they were “Saturday Night Live” cast members. The Butabi Brothers go club hopping, always trying to get in the hottest spot, the hottest spot being, The Roxbury. In A Night at the Roxbury, one of many films adapted from Saturday Night Live skits, the Butabi boys want to open their own club, one as hot as The Roxbury.

Of course, they face many obstacles. Their father Kamehl (Dan Hedaya) wants Steve to marry Emily Sanderson (Molly Shannon) so that he could merge his plastic plant business with Emily’s father’s lamp shop. Doug doesn’t like Emily, and Kamehl doesn’t think much of his son Doug’s intelligence. It doesn’t help that the boys live at home with their parents, so Kamehl is always in their business. They finally get a break when they meet The Roxbury’s owner, Mr. Zadir (Chazz Palminteri), who likes the boys and wants to go in business with them. Zadir’s assistant, Dooey (Colin Quinn) hates the Butabi boys and runs interference to keep them from having that meeting crucial with Mr. Zadir about opening a club. Meanwhile, Emily and Kamehl set a date for the wedding, and Doug severs his close relationship with his brother over the wedding. Will the Butabi Bros. get back together in time to open their dream club?

A Night at the Roxbury is only funny when Kattan and Ferrell are onscreen, and then it’s mostly for their silliness, not for their acting. The film just seems to meander through its plot, and one can’t help but get the feeling that this film is going nowhere, so the Butabi’s desperately need to be on the screen for this film to be tolerable. For all its dilly-dallying, the film suddenly drops its ending in your lap, but other than a few laughs, this is, at best, a temporary distraction. It is a testament to the leads’ styles, that they elicit laughs from mediocre material (material that is surprisingly mediocre when one considers that Clueless director Amy Heckerling and comedy superstar Jim Carrey made substantial uncredited contributions to this film), and their comedic gifts make A Night at the Roxbury worth watching.

5 of 10
C+

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"Bridesmaids" Offers More Than Just Belly Laughs

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 89 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


Bridesmaids (2011)
Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – R for some strong sexuality, and language throughout
DIRECTOR: Paul Feig
WRITERS: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
PRODUCERS: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert D. Yeoman
EDITOR: William Kerr and Mike Sale

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd, Jill Clayburgh, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Tim Heidecker, Rebel Wilson, Matt Lucas, Michael Hitchcock, Franklyn Ajaye, Terry Crews, Jon Hamm, and Wilson Phillips (Carnie Wilson, Wendy Wilson, and Chynna Phillips)

Bridesmaids is a 2011 comedy and drama starring and co-written by Kristen Wiig, a current cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (as of this writing). Produced by Apatow Productions, Bridesmaids follows a down-on-her-luck maid of honor whose personal problems threaten to derail a friend’s wedding.

Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig) is a single woman in her mid 30s and lives in Milwaukee. In recent years, she has seen her dream bakery (called Cake Baby) fail and drain away her life savings. Her current boyfriend, the self-absorbed Ted (Jon Hamm), really isn’t her boyfriend; Ted is just someone who uses Annie for sex. When her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), announces that she is engaged to marry her boyfriend, Doug (Tim Heidecker), Annie should be happy for her, but Lillian’s impending nuptials only make Annie think about her own sad state of affairs.

Lillian asks Annie to be her maid of honor, but at the engagement party, Annie is shocked to discover that one of the other bridesmaids, Helen Harris III (Rose Byrne), has a relationship with Lillian that can best be described as “best friends.” Annie is also put off by the other bridesmaids: raunchy, cynical, frustrated housewife, Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey); idealistic new bride, Becca (Ellie Kemper); and Lillian’s crude, but lively future sister-in-law, Megan (Melissa McCarthy). Annie’s attempts at being maid of honor are disastrous and her life isn’t much better. Meanwhile, a local cop, Officer Nathan Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd), takes a liking to Annie.

The title, Bridesmaids, is a little misleading. This film is really about Annie Walker; all the other characters are supporting players to one degree or another. Even Lillian’s wedding, an event that weighs heavily on the story, is merely a subplot in Annie’s complicated life. I would say that much of what was shown in trailers and in television advertisements for this film, especially the hijinks of the Bridesmaids, mostly comes from a section of this film that runs from the end of the first hour to the first 30 or so minutes of the second hour.

That’s not to say that this movie isn’t funny. It’s quite funny. I found myself laughing out loud (really loud, sometimes) at many moments throughout this movie. The bridesmaids live up to the expectations, especially Melissa McCarthy, an Emmy winner for the CBS sitcom, “Mike & Molly.” McCarthy steals practically every scene in which she appears; there should be, at least, some kind of award nomination coming her way. On the other hand, one of this film’s faults is that Maya Rudolph’s Lillian is not in this movie enough. Every time Lillian appears, the movie seems to beg her to stay longer.

Still, this movie is really about Annie Walker, and to that extent, it is well-written by Wiig and co-writer Annie Mumolo. Wiig also gives an excellent comic performance, one that brings humor and sarcasm to Annie’s troubles without making them seem less troublesome. Annie’s life is pretty crappy. That Annie’s dilemmas feel so real is probably why having the policeman, Nathan Rhodes, show up in her life, adds such a lovely romantic touch to this movie. Irish comedian and actor Chris O’Dowd gives what is probably a career-turning performance as the genial, extremely likeable Rhodes, who is a kind of a knight in shining armor. Even I have a crush on the character.

For all the credit that Kristen Wiig, her co-writer, and the rest of the cast deserve, credit should also go to director Paul Feig. He knows just what tone to strike for each scene and also which genre conventions should be present depending on the moment. It’s one thing to direct a comedy-drama, but to also direct a romantic comedy that is connected to a spirit-crushing mid-life crisis is quite a feat.

Do believe the hype. Bridesmaids was a big hit in theatres because people liked it and kept spreading the word about it. And the word I want to use for it is “classic.” I hope it lives up to that. I think it will.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

My First Negromancer Movie Review: "The Ladies Man"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 of 2001 (No. 1) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Ladies Man (2000)
Running time: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
DIRECTOR: Reginald Hudlin
WRITERS: Tim Meadows, Dennis McNicholas, and Andrew Steele
PRODUCER: Lorne Michaels
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Johnny E. Jensen
EDITOR: Earl Watson
COMPOSER: Marcus Miller

COMEDY

Starring: Tim Meadows, Karyn Parsons, Billy Dee Williams, John Witherspoon, Jill Talley, Lee Evans, Will Ferrell, Sofia Milos, Eugene Levy, David Huband, Kevin McDonald, Tiffani Thiessen, and Julianne Moore

When I first saw advertisements for this movie, The Ladies Man, I really wanted to see it. I wasn’t just another movie on my list; I craved seeing this movie. From the ads, it looked as if it would be filled with those obnoxious pimp daddy retro-60’s/70’s blaxtiplotation stereotypes that are in vogue, and at the moment, I wanted some of that.

I got it, but in a sort of wishy-washy, screwed up way. You see, black folks can be funny and entertaining to white audiences, if they know how and what to deliver. I watched Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker satisfy whatever that craving for silly Negroes is to different generations (though Murphy returned from his early to mid 90’s slump as a family movie comic actor). Black and white audiences expect the same thing from their black funny guys and gals, they just want it prepared differently. One group might flock to Booty Call and the other prefers Dr. Dolittle.

The Ladies Man, a film by Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Boomerang, and the Great White Hype) attempts to deliver the colored goods to a White audience. I honestly believe that upon reading the script, they knew that black people would see through this limp-wristed minstrel charade.

Based on an ongoing “Saturday Night Live” skit, the lead is Leon Phelps (Tim Meadows, who originated the character on SNL) as a radio advice show host who gets himself and his producer, Julie (Karyn Parsons, “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” Major Payne), fired from the major Chicago gig because of his insistence on using crude language to discuss sexual topics (although kind of language keeps television talk shows on the air). During their difficult and unsuccessful hunt for other employment (the first point upon which this movie turns), Phelps receives a letter from a wealthy former lover who wants to take care of him; he must however discover her, as the letter is unsigned (the second point). Meanwhile, the husbands of Phelps many lovers have banded together to find and bring harm to Phelps whose identity is unknown to them because the only glimpse they ever got of him was of his ass and the distinct tattoo upon his right buttock (his unknown identity being the third point). This movie is actually not without possibilities. It is, after all, simply product, and if you make a good cheeseburger, garbage food though it may be compared to gourmet food, if made well it can be a satisfying meal.

When the writers moved Phelps from sketch character to full-length movie character, they forgot to fully develop him. In the movie, he’s stuck somewhere between cipher and character – almost, but not quite where he needs to be. Phelps is supposed to be some kind of fantastic lover man, but the audience must assume that because the script darn well never shows us why. If we suspend our disbelief, we still have a hard time convincing ourselves that his character’s silly “make out” lines are meant to be attractive and inviting to women. Phelps is undeniably dumb, dull-witted, and slow. He has a giant Afro that screams fake like Astroturf, and his wardrobe is porno movie chic. There should be some attempt to humanize him and make him attractive to the audience. There should be something real about him that makes him attractive to women. We can assume from a few scenes that he possesses massive genitalia, but we never see that; instead we see men gawking at his off screen groin area. We do see his ass a few times, which is nicely shaped and sculpted, whether it belong to Meadows or a butt double.

The actors certainly seem up to the task; they’re all earnest even with a bad script. All the cuckold husbands are quite convincing, especially the delightful Will Ferrell (SNL and A Night at the Roxbury) and Eugene Levy. Midway through this movie, you can sense that the actors are ready to bust out, if only they had the material. Karyn Parsons is willing passionate and believable, but she is largely reduced to playing lady in waiting to Meadows’ clueless Phelps. It was good to see Billy Dee Williams as the bar owner Lester. He is as handsome and as talented as, say Richard Gere. I wonder why we see so much of Gere, who has one flop after another, while we see almost nothing of Williams on the big screen.

But in the end, so much is left to assumptions and playing upon stereotypes. One can see in Meadows face the ability to give this character life, but he’s left with a caricature, a minstrel man. When the audience can identify the characters and then sympathize with them, they can better accept not only dramatic situations concerning the characters, but also comedic situations. The audience will giggle at a few situations that they might recognize because they are familiar with the stereotypes. However, a fully developed story with surprises that delight and familiarity that hits home will make for a fine cinematic experience. The writers should take the time to ground the story in reality, not necessarily make it realistic, but give it a sense of verisimilitude.

2 of 10
D

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