Hot Rod – Review (Film)

Hot Rod tells the story of Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg), an amateur stuntman who dreams of breaking into the big time and proving his stunt credentials to his stepfather, Frank (Ian McShane) to gain his respect.

Rod’s crew consists solely of his friends and despite their best efforts he hasn’t been able to land any jumps so far.

Soon enough his old neighbour Denise (Isla Fisher) returns home and love sick Rod invites her to join the team. When Frank falls ill Rod decides to do a huge stunt to raise funds.

Hot Rod was originally written with Will Ferrell in mind but ended up as a Lonely Island project, with the members of that taking over the main roles.

This is one of those films like Old School or Anchorman but it just doesn’t have that quality of comedy. That’s not to say this is because Ferrell isn’t involved but while amusing in places Hot Rod just didn’t spark with me.

There are some decent performances – Ian McShane, Isla Fisher and Bill Hader do well with what they’re given and Samberg isn’t bad in the main role but I just didn’t think this movie came together well enough to impress.

Hot Rod definitely isn’t a bad film. It’s an average comedy in the vein of Napoleon Dynamite or Stepbrothers. Your enjoyment of it will probably depend on how much you like those types of comedies but there are plenty of better examples (including the four mentioned in this review) that I’d recommend instead.

Rating: 5/10

I Love You, Man – Review (Film)

Paul Rudd is fast becoming one of my favourite actors.

Films such as Role Models, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman and even old skool classic Clueless have seen him cement the kind of reputation that I will base seeing a film on.

His run of great films continues with ‘I Love You, Man’ – the most accurate description of which was the term ‘Bromance’ that was coined by someone when the movie hit screens earlier this year.

This film is essentially a love story. Man looks for companion, takes them on dates until he finds one then gets to know them better. Except both characters are men 😆

Peter Klaven (Rudd) gets engaged to his girlfriend and then realises he doesn’t have a male friend who can be his best man.

He sets about trying to find a friend he can ask before he gets married and after some memorable encounters ends up befriending Sydney Fyfe (Jason Segel).

The film plays out around their new found friendship but is treated like a love story of sorts, which just adds to the comedy value.

I won’t spoil anything here but as you can imagine there are plenty of laughs in the various situations they end up in and the way that their relationship takes off.

The two leading men have such a great chemistry that you can’t help but love them despite their faults.

I Love You, Man is a great film that plays on our pre-conceived notions of rom-com movies and flips them 180 degrees.

Well recommended.

Rating: 9/10