Hey folks, Harry here with the first review we've got in of Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show which played in Toronto on its second day. Seems, at least to our guy on the scene there, that Vince has quite a funny flick on his hands. Here - check it out...
Just got back from seeing this and I will preface this with: Humour is subjective and hyperbole on the internet in regards to comedy tends to backfire... but... this movie is hilarious and everyone needs to see it and it is by far the funniest movie (that I have seen) this year (sorry Thank You For Smoking). Sure, it's essentially stand-up in docu form so it has an unfair advantage over traditional films, but I never expected it to be this funny, and even more surprising was it being so well made.
For the uninitiated (like myself before entering the theatre), the film follows 4 stand up comedians on a Vince Vaughn-produced comedy tour across America, with the premise being 30 shows in 30 nights, taped last year at around this time. The comedians are Ahmed Ahmed, Bret Ernst, John Caparulo, and Sebastian Maniscalo. Also featured on the tour are Peter Billingsley (Mikey from A Christmas Story, a producer of the film and a good friend of Vaughn), Justin Long (Dodgeball cheerleader and Accepted star), Keir O'Donnel (gay son in Wedding Crashers), and Jon Favreau to open it up.
The film was basically half stand-up and half behind-the-scenes (which doesn't mean the jokes stop when they are off the stage) and the stand up was generally observational comedy with some personal stories and race-related jokes in between. I didn't have an official time on it, it was longer than I expected but it flowed really well.
I won't give away any jokes, partially because they come across better on screen with actual delivery, and partially because I don't want to ruin it, but there were at least half a dozen moments in the film that I was hysterically laughing and trying to catch my breath, and countless moments that got me chuckling, grinning, giggling, clapping, stomping my feet, and all that good stuff. John Caparulo in particular was tremendous. On the look of him and the sound of him, I expected Larry The Cable Guy, but the dude killed it and I thought was the best of the 4.
Aside from the comics, what really stood out was the editing and whatnot. I found it really well crafted and paced and smartly made. It seems by the post QnA with Vaughn & co. that it was very much a flying by the seat of their pants kinda thing and that it turned out this good is a testiment to those involved. It starts off very Vaughn-heavy, but by mid-way through the film he hands it off to the four and they run with it and Vince basically just makes a cameo appearance through the rest of the film. I had no idea who any of these guys were, but by the end of the film it felt like they were family.
There's a point, and for me it was when they visited the campground that housed people who lost their homes in Katrina, that it really settled in as a movie and an experience and that's a really great feeling to have. And around that point they started to get into the backgrounds and families of the comics, and I think that is so smart because they earned it that way. If they did this in the beginning, I don't know if I would have cared that much, but after seeing them and getting to know them, when stories like the one about Brets brother comes up, you really feel it.
And not to say they play up the sentimentality, but there are certain feel-good moments and by the end, at least I found, it was like saying goodbye to friends... as cliched as that sounds. But the family-stuff and the stuff in regards to making it and struggling, makes it more personal, and in that way it really surprised me and I think made for a better experience. It was also really weird to see a crowd react to a movie the same way they'd react as if it were live stand up.
I don't know if there is a wide-release on this, but if you enjoy stand up, I whole heartedly recommend this.
-- Put A Cork In It Zane --
