Amateur stuntman Rod Kimble (ANDY SAMBERG) has a problem – his step-father Frank (IAN MCSHANE) is a jerk. Frank picks on Rod, tosses him around like a rag doll in their weekly sparring sessions, and definitely doesn’t respect him, much less his stunts. But when Frank falls ill, it’s up to Rod to stage the jump of his life in order to save his step-father. The plan: Jump 15 buses, raise the money for Frank’s heart operation, and then… kick his ass.
Usually when you do these things it’s the synopsis that gets shafted. People just want the goodies without giving the proper shrift to the context. What’s absolutely bizarre and humorous is that this isn’t just a movie about some dope having to prove something to the world – this is a movie about a dope having it in for someone so relentlessly that he’s going to prove something to the world… and then kick the ass of the person who he’s trying to help.
Nice setup, even better teaser trailer, and a quite nice Isla Fisher means a lot towards creating goodwill for a guy like me who stopped believing in the power of Saturday Night Live but who has come back aboard with every occasional flirt with comedic greatness (Who out there doesn’t know some verse of “Lazy Sunday” or at least likes Justin Timberlake a smidge more for his help on “Dick in a Box”?).
HOT ROD’s Internet promotion is just as creative as Samberg is proving himself to be. If you head over to the faux site created by Rod’s brother, Kevin, you’ll be treaded to a nice Web 1.0 version of what these film characters are all about. What’s really good is if you head over to the VIDEOS section of the site; it’s five minutes really well spent. Or, if absurdity isn’t your bag, simply head over to the film’s official site and enjoy all the slickness that m0dern computer coding has to offer.
Besides all this, the movie stars two of the better comedic players out there, Will Arnett and Bill Hader.
HOT ROD opens everywhere August 3rd.
P.s. – I dig Hader’s red shirt below. Reminds me of another bike movie that was a real hallmark in my youth: RAD. That one also starred Talia Shire, and the shirts in that movie read “Rad Racing”. Coincidence? I think not, but the nostalgia is too delightful to ignore.
Comments: None
Leave a Reply |