The One-Line Summary: Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) dreams of being a famous stuntmen, following in the footsteps of his dead father, but fails consistently at makes long jumps on his motorcycle, causing his abusive stepfather to mock him and even beat him in sparring session, though when Frank’s heart gives out and needs a transplant, Rod decides this is the opportunity he needs to make a spectacular jump over 15 school buses (beating Evel Knievel) and raise money for the operation.
The Two-Line Blurb: Written by and starring members of The Lonely Island comedy team, plus some rather big names in Hollywood, including Sissy Spacek and Isla Fisher (who both play it perfectly straight as if they don’t know they are in a comedy), this Jackass meets Rocky meets Super Dave Osbourne revels in its irreverence, defying the law of physics and common sense but with a joyful absurdity that works well throughout most of the run-time. Sharp and full of energy, the movie knows exactly what is it doing, setting up and hitting all the right marks, flatly refusing to reign itself in right to the bombastic finale.
The Three-Line Set-up: Rod has a singular dream, misguided and misinformed as it is, but has a tremendous support team of friends (and the souls of the animal kingdom: eagle, fox, bottlenose dolphin, octopus, and house cat) that are at every turn encouraging him to keep going, no matter how terrible he clearly is at stunt jumping. Motivated by his step-father, who is about as warm and cuddly as a pet cactus that can throw punches, Rod aims to raise the $50,000 needed to perform the surgery and save his life, hopefully to win the old man’s respect. One of those team members is a girl, and the crew is about to meet her.
The Four-Line Moment: The boys are a tight group, a little lacking in smarts, but more than equipped enough for well, hanging out and passing the time. They kind of build the ramps, market events, and fix things, but mostly they party, or at least they think they do. Rod set them straight when he stops by with his new gal pal Denise (Isla Fisher), who he’s been crushing on for awhile and wants to impress, and thinks will be a good addition the crew, though it’s going to take some convincing. This scene is wonderfully charming and silly, showcasing the kind of off-the-wall humor it does so well.
The Five-Word Review: This should be a trilogy.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxb_X12HZWQ?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0&w=640&h=360]
