Hot Rod (2007)

Starring:  Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, 

Isla Fisher, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Ian McShane

Directed by: Akiva Schaffer

Written by: Pam Brady

Duration: 1hr 24 mins

Rating: 4 out of 5

ROD MAKES A MIGHTY LEAP

Comedy is the most subjective genre of them all.  It’s nigh on impossible to tell if you’re going to like one before actually watching it.  Previews are no real indication – are all the funny bits in the trailer, or are they just a hint of the hilarity to come?  Past form is also no real guarantee – I’ve been recommended things that well-informed friends thought I would love that I ended up hating, and the reverse is just as true.

I’ll give you the example of Will Ferrell, who Rod Hot was originally written for.  I love Blades of Glory, but don’t like Anchorman.  I thought he was hilarious in Wedding Crashers, tedious in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.  His work in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back made me giggle, but his role in The Other Guys left me grimacing.  So do I like Will Ferrell movies?  The best answer I can give is: sometimes.

SAMBERG:  FUNNY FACE

Do I like sports comedies, the sub-genre that Hot Rod occupies? Not often.  Dodgeball and BASEketball are classics, but many other attempts, like Balls of Fury and Semi-Pro, are less successful. 

The point I’m trying to make is that there was every chance that I wouldn’t like Hot Rod.  It had been compared in reviews to Anchorman (which most people find hilarious – bafflingly so, to me) in its base of improvisational clowning between four friends, as well as Napoleon Dynamite (the appeal of which eluded me) for its geeky and misanthropic lead.

And yet somehow the elements combined to make Hot Rod one of the most consistently funny films I have seen for a long, long time.

HADER, MCBRIDE AND TACCONE OFFER UP AN
EMBARRASSMENT OF COMEDY RICHES

For a start, it’s chock-a-block with funny people.  I hadn’t heard of comedy troupe the Lonely island – director Akiva Schaffer and actors Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone – beforehand, but after seeing this I checked out all their spoof music videos on You Tube (personal favourites: Jizzin my Pants, I Just Had Sex and the sublime I’m on a Boat) and am now a firm fan.  Both Samberg and Taccone simply have funny faces; the former especially has me in stitches with the merest change of expression.  They’re joined by an impressive rosta of rib-tickling talent: Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Will Arnett, Chris Parnell.  We also get a hilariously gruff turn from Ian McShane, sweet support from the gorgeous Isla Fisher, and a bizarre bit-part from a character named Richardson that defies description.

ARNETT ADDS ANOTHER TO HIS IMPRESSIVE
ROSTER OF ON-SCREEN ARSEHOLES

Hot Rod’s plot concerns Evel Knievel wannabe Rod Kimble (Samberg), a 20-something delusional loser who spends his free time concocting stunts on his moped that invariably end in hurting himself and impressing no one.  Rod and his half-brother Kevin (Taccone) live with their mother (a game Sissy Spacek) and Rod’s step father, McShane’s Frank, who delights in reminding Rod of what a joke he is.  When the old man has a heart attack that needs $70,000 worth of surgery, Rod decides to jump fifteen buses as a fundraising stunt.

LOVEJOY WAS NEVER THIS AGGRESSIVE

So far, so conventional.  But Hot Rod has a subversive spirit that makes the well-worn premise feel fresh.  Rod isn’t motivated by some saccharine bond or sense of duty, he only wants to cure Frank because if he dies before Rod’s been able to beat him in a fight, then his nemesis will go to the grave still thinking he was a pussy.  “I’m gonna get you better,” Rod tells the smirking Frank. “And then I'm gonna beat you to death!”

It spoofs ‘80s era sports movies, but not directly or cheaply; instead, it uses garish fashions, the funniest training montage ever committed to film, some ace use of cheese rockers Europe and, in a stand out scene, a random group rendition of John Farnham’s You’re the Voice.

In fact, random is a good word to use to describe Hot Rod.  Credited writer Pam Brady is a veteran of South Park and brings with her that show’s anarchic sensibility:  the ‘Cool beans’ sketch is now legendary, but there is also George Michael karaoke to an audience of stuffed animals, a Bill Hader acid trip and much more besides.     

PLEASED TO SEE THAT HULK HOGAN WASN'T LYING
WHEN HE CLAIMED THAT HULKAMANIA WOULD LIVE FOREVER

Whilst I found the randomness of Anchorman jarring, here it really worked for me.  Maybe it’s because I felt that Hot Rod’s central foursome were far more endearing than the shouty, obnoxiousness of the broadly-sketched KVWN-TV Channel 4 Evening News team; maybe it’s because I prefer ‘80s references to ‘70s ones; maybe my expectations were raised too much by Anchorman’s reputation.  Who knows – it’s hard to pin down the exact reason, but in the same way that a joke loses its magic through over-analysis, Hot Rod simply exists, and the world is a funnier place because of it.  ****