One of the nicest things I am able to do as a person who has a weekly column devoted to trailers is expose you all out there in the cyberiffic ephemera to some of the best and worst in movie advertising.
This week’s column is unique in that I have two trailers to give you that gives you two different opinions on the phenomena that is Jamie Kennedy.
On the one hand I am not in any way a fan of The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. I saw the program as a shallow attempt to blend his style of comedy, his need to dress up and portray a gaggle of imaginary characters and set it all against a Candid Camera-like backdrop. I didn’t find it amusing. I didn’t see anything particularly brilliant about his humor and the roles he chose in mainstream film only really solidified the theory that he was, essentially, a vanilla alternative to Jim Carrey.
From there it was a roller coaster of film choices that swung back and forth from good to downright terrible. For every ROMEO + JULIET (he was absolutely fabulous) there was a MALIBU’S MOST WANTED waiting right around the corner. It was unfathomable to me that the guy could do great great work but then make a choice like SON OF THE MASK and it just makes you scratch your head and wonder just what is going on in that man’s mind. He’s obviously not above doing some projects because they have a modicum of ridiculousness in them or even above doing something that’s obviously terrible but the thing is, and here’s the rub, he’s hard to dismiss.
Kennedy has the kind of talent that eeks out every now and then but with a movie like KICKIN’ IT OLD SKOOL you just have to throw your hands up in the air and just forget everything you’ve ever thought, dismiss all the goodwill you’ve ever slid his way and just seethe with the kind of hate usually reserved for the sneaky bastards that steal food from the your company’s break room refrigerator, especially if the wife packed an extra pudding pop in your lunch.
The thing, though, is that the same weekend I saw SKOOL I also happened to catch his new documentary HECKLER and it blew my sensibilities away. The guy just rages with brilliance as he confronts the act of heckling and what it means to entertainers and public figures. You, honestly, can watch Kennedy sitting on a couch with a critic that has pummeled him, mercilessly, for his previous work that is, perhaps, worthy of such derision but it feels prickly when you see him confronting the critic and trying to make sense of the depth to which he was pushed asunder. It’s fascinating.
I’ll save the play-by-play for below but I’m curious what you think out there about Jamie Kennedy: Smart comedian or schizophrenic actor? I honestly believe the guy has to evoke some kind of reaction, one way or the other, from his audience so I welcome your thoughts on this or the trailers below.
But, before you do that, check out the extended Raiders video that’s used in Kennedy’s HECKLER trailer. I’m still laughing my ass off.
DIGGERS (2007)
Director: Katherine Dieckmann
Cast: Ken Marino, Maura Tierney, Paul Rudd, Ron Eldard
Release: April 27, 2007
Synopsis: A coming-of-age story about four working-class friends growing up in Long Island, New York, as clam diggers. Their fathers were clam diggers as well as their grandfathers before them.
View Trailer:
* Large (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Positive. This movie is an odd duck but it’s for all the right reasons.
First, what many will probably notice about the film is that its release date, DVD release date, and the date on which it’s going to be available through your television is roughly only ten days between one another. BUBBLE, that see it and forget it film from Steven Soderbergh, kind of petered out to a slow-burn was due to its ambiguous and rather freakazoid premise as a film. Some saw that mass release on all formats as a bad portent for this kind of releasing but I would argue that the reason it didn’t do so well was because it wasn’t the kind of film you would want to rush out and buy, that you would want to rush, period, to see.
I’m not sure if this movie is The One, something that would really be a good test for how well it will do across all formats, but it’s got Paul Rudd and Maura Tierney and even Ken Marino, one of those quiet killers of comedy, who leads off the trailer with admonishing the use of the word “funeral†with his kids and, instead, couches the request to get his children interested in seeing a corpse as, “Want to see a dead body?†Huzzahs and excitement abound.
The fact that you have all this comedic talent behind the film and then, from Ken, we switch into Serious gear by setting things up ever briefly isn’t as jarring as it could be. You have the death of a patriarch but there is a sense, initially through casual talk between Rudd, Ken and Maura, that this all about capturing a moment. From the frank discussion about the truth of irony, funny, to the very real problems that this maritime family goes through after the one they depended on has left them is rather compelling.
Another reason that this trailer stands out from the pack is that there is a loaded cast that could do well in a movie like 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN or WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER but there’s hardly any of that here. This is a real examination of what a family goes through when the support system is gone: Ken has issues with his career, Rudd has problems with finding his place in life and Maura has problems with finding love.
None of this is funny.
However, we don’t really care because these people handle all these issues with their senses of humor and that’s what’s different about this production. Ken sums up what makes this an interesting experiment in whether anyone would buy, see or push a button on their remote to see this movie: his kid wants to see JAWS, Ken doesn’t think it would be a good thing, Ken goes on to explain away the ending with the kind of parental force that is at the same time funny and real.
I hope it’s not a failed experiment.
Director: Harvey Glazer
Cast: Jamie Kennedy, Miguel A. Nunez, Maria Menounos, Michael Rosenbaum, Bobby Lee
Release: April 27, 2007
Synopsis: In 1986, a freak break dancing accident put Justin Schumacher in a coma. Now, 20 years later, he (Jamie Kennedy) is waking up to a new world and discovering that the more things change, the more he’s stayed the same. With the girl of his dreams (Maria Menounos) engaged to marry his grade-school nemesis (Michael Rosenbaum), and his parents drowning in the debt of his medical costs, Justin must rally his former squad, bust a move, and win back the girl of his dreams.
View Trailer:
* Large (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Wicked Negative. This your bush?
I think that Jamie Kennedy is amusing. I think he’s really done well for himself and has established a fairly solid history for what his legacy will be when he finally passes on. I just am of the belief, however, that his comedy is middle of the road and doesn’t really do anything to further what those have come before him have done to try and push the boundaries of what can be funny.
It’s not meant to be a slam against what he does because, all things being equal, he’s a solid 6.5 on a 10-point scale. He’s not breaking any new ground or cutting a path through a thicket of land no one’s ever seen before but when you look at this trailer that’s exactly the kind of thing you should be thinking by the time it’s over.
It’s like BIG meets 13 GOING ON 30. Not the greatest way to walk into a pitch meeting, it wouldn’t open my wallet, but someone did and the trailer plays Color-By-Numbers. The bland voiceover tells us everything we need to know about this movie by the time we hit the 15-second mark and kudos to them. I can’t really hold anything against the intro because it does a solid job with setting up his life, his love interest, the situation of him being in a coma for 20 years following a break dancing move and the fact that Christopher McDonald is just a solid supporting actor in comedies.
The problem, then, is the plot of this movie. Whereas you have trailers that try and snowball you into thinking they’re something that they’re not this movie actually puts itself out there and kind of reveals all the goods. From the go-to gag of exposing an ignoramus to the powers of Internet porn, to the dropping of any 80’s nostalgia (Star Search, He-Man, arcades, et al) in order to make the situational comedy more “gettable†by your average Gen Xer, the demo this movie is obviously and overtly aimed at.
From the preposterous setup that there just happens to be a dance-off that just happens to award lots of money and just happens to be close enough where two old rivals, played with about as much nuance as an atom bomb going off in the middle of Nagasaki. It’s lazy storytelling would be far worse to me if this trailer just didn’t succeed in doing everything that it needed to do in order to be effective.
See, it’s not my place to point out the effectiveness of Vivica A. Fox’s bitch slap that’s funnier than shit but, rather, it’s my duty to explain that, as a trailer, it did everything it needed to do. It’s hard to rail against something that I sure as hell won’t spend any scratch on, and would try my hardest to keep any others from doing so either, because this trailer doesn’t hide what it is. It’s pleased as piss to just put it on display and let people bask in its milquetoast mushiness.
If ever there was a trailer that exemplified a C+ student, you need not look any futher.
Director: Michael Addis
Cast: Louie Anderson, Dave Attel, Vince August, David Cross, Mike Ditka, Craig Ferguson, Tom Green, Jamie Kennedy, Jewel Kilcher, Bill Maher, Howie Mandel, Patton Oswalt, Joe Rogan, Rob Zombie
Release: Coming Soon
Synopsis: HECKLER is a comedic feature documentary exploring the increasingly critical world we live in. After starring in a film that was critically bashed, Jamie Kennedy takes on hecklers and critics and ask some interesting questions of people such as George Lucas, Bill Maher, Mike Ditka, Rob Zombie, Howie Mandel and many more. This fast moving, hilarious documentary pulls no punches as you see an uncensored look at just how nasty and mean the fight is between those in the spotlight and those in the dark.
View Trailer:
* Large (Flash)
Prognosis: Wildly Positive. I am, really, an old school comedy lover.
One of the best Kids in the Hall sketches has Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney as two of the most slimy, unscrupulous salesmen. They’re hawking a product called Poreef, a meat blend consisting of beef and pork, and are trying to unload it on a pack of easily sold sheep who are looking for a deal at their supermarket. One of the customers, an old woman, interrupts the sales pitch. Bruce, annoyed, fires back with, “Ma’am, do I come to your job and jump up and down at the end of the bed?†Realize, as well, that it took a moment the first time I heard it for me to understand that even though this was scripted sketch comedy it was still very funny.
As such, this is Jamie Kennedy’s bush right here. Make no mistake about the starkness of what this documentary deals with, the business of dealing with those who want to interject their own brand of humor to a working comedian’s office, and the trailer really impresses.
What’s so notable is that it opens up right in the middle of what the film is about with no context other than Jamie is making a documentary about something. The heckle that’s tossed out first is actually quite good, and one I’ve thought about Jamie for quite some time, only for him to soothingly take the heckler to task for his interruption.
We churn through a few comedians and their thoughts on the subject, Joe Rogan, who ought to win some kind of medal for this coup d’etat of massive proportions, steps in with a succinct appraisal of the situation, David Cross slips in with a quick comment but it’s really the heckle by a Raiders fan after a Texas Tech football game that’s interwoven between shots of Mike Ditka (?) and other comedians’ feelings on the matter that gets a laugh out of me.
Jamie is absolutely right to explore this social custom that seems to pervade many different avenues, not just stand-up comedy, but it’s the trailer’s frankness and inclusion of how Jamie himself deals with moments where lesser people might find themselves shaken off their game but, for him, it’s just another part of the career.
That’s where Michael Richards’ career-screeching screed comes in.
Things get a little spicier. A comedian is shown getting punched in the face by an audience member who rushes the stage. Dave Attell weighs in on why all comedians should retaliate against hecklers with violence of their own. Some guitar wielding comedian distributes some of his own brand of Whoop Ass to an unfortunate loudmouth and, again, Jamie switches gears.
The trailer contextualizes the final 1/3 of what we see here in that Jamie invites his critics into his movie to openly berate him about the roles he’s chosen to play and for them to be brutally honest about what they think of his work. It’s astonishing to watch if for no other reason than that anyone else, I would assume, in his position would just collect the paycheck and move right along. Some of these critics have real prickly things to say to his face. It’s great to watch simply for the thrill of seeing how this fits into his overall thrust of the film. And it does it seamlessly.
From other comedians to Jamie turning things back around on the critics he invited to share some screen time with him as they discuss the reviews they wrote about him this trailer easily has found a welcome spot in one of the best previews I’ve seen this year.
Director: Christopher Smith
Cast: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens, Claudie Blakleye
Release: May 18, 2007
Synopsis: Working nine to five is a real killer, but teambuilding holidays can sometimes be even worse. A coach lurches out of the hustle and bustle of Budapest and heads towards the mountainous border. Aboard are seven employees of the international weapons manufacturer Palisade Defence, global suppliers of innovative weaponry for the past 75 war- torn years. The lucky group are being treated to a team-building weekend at the company’s newly built luxury spa lodge by their president, George Cinders.
View Trailer:
* Large (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Positive. I didn’t know whether to laugh or be afraid, very afraid. And that’s kind of nice.
What makes SHAUN OF THE DEAD so interesting as a vehicle for film study is its blend of comedy and horror. Now, mind you, I wouldn’t say that SHAUN has the kind of horror blend that you would have seen in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2, really the best one of the bunch, and that it’s more comedy than it is horror, but there was a real dedication on everyone’s part to not minimize either one of those blends.
That’s what I’m hoping is being done here.
For those who have ever been on a business retreat for those touchy-feely, granola chewing managerial types that think by stealing away for the weekend is any way for people to come closer together it is a nightmare of the oddest proportions. It kind of feels like you’re still “on the clock†but your attire and office scenery is just slightly askew; rather, it’s like a netherworld that denies you any sense of real comfort.
This trailer solidly blasts through the front gate and sets it all up for anyone who has never been on one of these business getaways some idea of what’s supposed to be done on them. Except, of course, you get the manager’s idea of what it’s to be but it’s the underlings who always try and find a way to undermine the entire experience. And that’s what you have here. The voiceover is a bit too Yankee for my liking, this after all an English film, and the choice of music for the background is quite discordant from what’s happening on the screen but you are, however, introduced to the colorful blend of co-workers on this trip. Keep your eye out for the Unexpected Perks guy. Lucky sod, he is.
Then Survival pops up on the screen.
Without so much as a warning we’re thrusted into this new world of kill or be killed. I was a bit confused, still am, about whether some people IN the company are out to kill each other or whether these are forest people just out to kill those AT the company. Regardless, and points are going to be deducted for having to make me think of what the right answer is, the flourish of a flame thrower, an RPG that goes rogue and a bus that flips onto its side after a wicked correction on the road is sweet enough to put me back in my place.
What follows from here is just a wetworks and attrition of the greatest degree. People seem to be devolving right in front of us, others are killing people in their shirts and neckties and, curiously enough, we aren’t allowed in on the secret of who provoked and is sustaining the campaign of death on these people.
Sometimes it’s better not knowing and in the case of this trailer it’s a lot like knowing when the company’s going under: not knowing when it’s coming can be a lot more entertaining.
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