Hot Rod

Saturday Night Live and YouTube digital video phenom Andy Samberg, whose brief funny segments include the memorable "Lazy Sunday" and "Dick-in-a-Box" bits, comes up short when he tries to stretch his brand of sophomoric humor to 83 minutes (including credits). In this largely unfunny comedy he plays a loser who dreams of becoming the next Evel Knievel, the '60s daredevil biker that many in the prepubescent audience lining up for this thing will never have heard of. Problem is, most of his stunt attempts, such as sailing over a motor home or swimming pool, always land with a thud. In an attempt to make some money for his ailing tough-as-nails stepfather's (Ian McShane) heart transplant, he agrees to try and jump 15 buses. With the support, if not help, from his "pit crew,"—a group of morons who make the Three Stooges seem like Nobel Prize winners—he prepares for this feat (and others) by doing an elaborate training dance that mimics the 1983 film Flashdance (another quarter-of-a-century-old reference that will jump right over confused heads in the multiplex). The filmmakers were apparently trying to cash in on the surprise success of offbeat movies like Napoleon Dynamite and the dopey Nacho Libre (in which Jack Black also dons a red cape and tries to excel in an unlikely sport, just like Andy does here). However, if Samberg's Hot Rod somehow manages to become a hit like those flicks, it will be a bigger feat than anything this dumb dude tries on-screen!