REVIEWS

Hot Rod: This Movie Likes To Party

by Ken Evans
August 3, 2007

• US Release Date: August 3, 2007
• Genre: Comedy, Action
• MPAA: Rated PG-13 (for crude humor, language, some comic drug-related and violent content)
• Running Time: 88 minutes
• Directed by: Akiva Schaffer
• on IMDb
•    9/10

Let me start by saying that I love comedies. They would be my favorite genre of movie, if I had a favorite. So far this year there have been three comedies that I think are worth mentioning. The first, and my least favorite of the three, is License to Wed. I'll admit the only real reason I liked it was because a lot of the cast from the television show "The Office" were in it. After watching it, my friends and I relived the funny parts for a good 15 to 20 minutes afterward. The second comedy, Knocked Up, which I enjoyed tremendously, we must have talked about and quoted for 45 minutes to 1 hour after the film. The last and greatest comedy I have seen so far this year is Hot Rod. Let's just put it this way... I watched it on July 18th and two weeks later we are still talking about it today.

If Andy Samberg (who plays Rod Kimble in the film) can keep up this level of comedy then he could become as iconic as Will Ferrell. His presence, facial expressions, tone of voice and comedic timing hit my funny bone dead on. And although Samberg is the constant that ties every scene together, the movie would have fallen short without the assistance of his stunt crew: Kevin Powell (Jorma Taccone), Dave (Bill Hader), Rico (Danny R. McBride) and Denise (Isla Fisher) who play off of Samberg's style perfectly. There are also appearances by Will Arnett, from the most excellent television show "Arrested Development", and Chris Parnell from SNL. Plus it was directed by Akiva Schaffer (writer of 39 episodes of SNL) and written by Pam Brady (writer of Team America: World Police, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and a few episodes of "South Park"). This is an all-star cast, ‘nuff said.

Rod Kimble and his crew prepare to take on one gigantic life-saving stunt in Hot Rod.

For me this is the next Napoleon Dynamite, although nothing like it. The closest film that I could compare this too is Better Off Dead. If you haven't seen Better Off Dead then go out and rent it because it's awesome. If you have seen Better Off Dead then you know that more than anything it is random. It's the kind of random like in Anchorman when the different news channel teams have a battle to the death. Or random like in Zoolander with the freak gasoline fight accident. Hot Rod is a bunch of those scenes all tied together under the basic plot of Rod pulling off one big stunt to save his step dad. It takes you from punch-dancing and "cool beans" to Uncle Scrooge and fake mustaches. This is one comedic gem you don't want to miss. It totally smacks destiny in the face!

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