Websites like
Funny Or Die have opened up the world of short comedy skits online, and Movie
43 feels like a Hollywood attempt to cash in
on this type of humor. Even when moments of the film work, the entirety is
pretty much doomed to fail from the beginning. The inconsistency of all
anthology films is to be considered, and the modern audience is accustomed to
watching short comedy skits like this on the internet, where it can be skipped
or stopped if not meeting the viewer’s requirements for entertainment. In
watching this film, the audience is stuck into the forced enduring the whole of
comedic excess and miscalculations.
Part of the
problem with the theatrical cut of the film is the half-ass way in which the
short films are all joined together in a loose book-ending structure starring
Dennis Quaid as a desperate washed up filmmaker attempting to sell any number
of ideas to a producer played by Greg Kinnear and a studio executive played by
Common. This through-line contains a number of name actors, but the short films
just seem spliced into the storyline sporadically. It often makes very little
sense, nor do the filmmakers seem to care, even tossing the illusion of
filmmaking aside entirely by the close of the skit. The alternate version, which
is included in this Blu-ray release, is actually much more coherent despite
missing the star names. It features a group of teens seeking out a mysterious
film on the internet, finding other banned films in the process.
As for the
individual shorts included in each of the versions, they are filled with humor
which is continually intentionally offensive while only momentarily humorous
and not always intentionally so. Most films just attempt shock humor, though
few actually succeed in anything funny or unexpected. What is most shocking
about this film is the large number of actors involved, and not surprising is
how long it took to get made. Along the process, some of the wiser actors like
Richard Gere attempted to escape the project. Others such as George Clooney
were wise enough to stay away altogether.
The Blu-ray
release features an additional short film directed by Bob Odenkirk and starring
Tony Shalhoub and Julianne Moore. I would work harder at panning this film, but
the critics have already bashed this tasteless comedy far more than it
deserves. Far from good, Movie 43 is simply harmless bad taste and lowbrow
humor; albeit so low it may as well be pubic hair.
Entertainment Value:
5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Disc Features: 4/10
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