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Quint guns his HOT ROD and heads for RESCUE DAWN!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I’m in the middle of traveling to Comic-Con, but I needed to catch up on a couple of reviews for two diametrically opposite flicks. On one hand I have Werner Herzog’s Vietnam POW film RESCUE DAWN and in the other I have the completely balls-out random comedy HOT ROD from the guys behind Lonely Island.
RESCUE DAWN
So, I’m probably the last person in this country to see this film. It has screened at so many festivals and is at the tail end of a platform release before going wide this weekend.
Christian Bale is fucking insane. He bulks up for BATMAN, then does this Werner Herzog movie where he has to Tom Hanks it and go back to his near MACHINIST emaciation… then he goes back to Batman and fucking bulks up again. His body has to hate his guts.
The film starts out a bit awkwardly. Bale kind of slips on his AMERICAN PSYCHO persona… not to an extreme, of course, but he’s not a really likable guy at the beginning. A little arrogant, a bit of a douche, actually.
Of course, that’s his arc. He doesn’t take the war seriously, just happy to be flying. When he’s shot down and ends up a POW, you see the experience humble him. Sure, it kind of drives him batshit nuts, too, but he finds the best of himself comes to the top.
Unlike his fellow POWs Jeremy Davies and Steve Zahn.
Boy, did they run down those two guys. Davies looks like a holocaust survivor he’s so thin. Zahn is always on the edge, a cracked china cup an inch away from crashing to the ground. His performance here is actually incredible. It’s the kind of 180 degree turn that the awards givers love.
The movie is intense and avoids most of the clichés of a POW film… until the last 10 minutes. I honestly wish the five minutes preceding the credits were just chopped out. It’s so over the top and forced, capping a movie that was completely fresh.
On the whole, it’s a strong recommend. Just be warned of a weak epilogue.
HOT ROD
The word on this one had been mixed. I thought the trailer was okay, but I wasn’t exactly fired up to see the movie. At this time I hadn’t watched AWESOMETOWN, the popular unproduced pilot from a couple years back, so I only vaguely knew Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island team from SNL’s digital shorts. Those were consistently funny, so I was happy to catch this flick a couple weeks back when it had a word of mouth screening here in Austin.
I guffawed. There were some chuckles, too, and a few laughs, but guffawing is what I did through most of the movie.
Not all the jokes work and not all the jokes that worked for me worked for the entire audience. There were times where either myself or my friends were the only people laughing at a joke.
But I’m a big fan of random humor. Big, big fan of random humor. God, I love it. And this movie is chock full of that kinda shit.
It seems now that if you have any movie that is quirky with off beat characters it’s going to get compared to NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. I’ve heard this one compared to ND, but I never really got that feeling while watching it.
I think it’s aided by an incredible supporting cast. Ian McShane is so fucking funny as the mean old bastard stepfather to Samberg’s character. McShane won’t consider Samberg a man until Samberg can beat him in a fight, so that becomes his goal. When McShane’s bad heart catches up to him, Samberg has to raise money for a life-saving operation. How can he kick his stepdad’s ass if he dies before Samberg gets strong enough to do so?
Yeah, the main group of characters are pretty pathetic. But they’re also populated with some really funny cats. Danny McBride (THE FOOT FIST WAY) is the king scene-stealer within a group of scene-stealers. He’s a little hillbilly-ish, but loyal and absolutely hilarious. None of his jokes fall flat.
Jorma Taccone is Rod’s half-brother. His character is pretty meek, but he’s still got some really good moments, as do Bill Hader (there’s a great sequence involving acid and a workshop mishap) and the lovely Isla Fisher.
I swear to God that Isla Fisher is getting more beautiful. She’s absolutely radiant in this movie as the long-time love interest.
Random humor can turn people off. Comedy is already a divisive genre, but this sort of random humor is especially so. This one worked for me. It’s been quoted with friends and I’ve often thought back on certain sequences (Cool beans to be specific) since I’ve watched it.
Another recommend!
Okay, got a few more things to wrap up before I dive head-first into Comic-Con. Look for my first interview and preview night coverage to hit tomorrow evening!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Bale rocks.
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Okay, not always, but it can be fun.
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Isn't that ending supposed to be crappy too? I hope that both Sunshine and Rescue Dawn are outstanding.
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my hopes are pretty high. RD is pretty good, herzog is the man.
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The guy just keeps making fucking great movies. He's a great actor, one of the best I've seen in a long time.
Equilibrium solidified why he deserves top dollar for any movie he stars in. -
It's cool to see Herzog's work get so much love and....attention. Something else: Ulrich Mühe (The Lives of Others) died on Sunday at the age of 54. Fucking cancer. I'm sad. May he rest in peace.
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Try and seek out UK sitcoms The Mighty Boosh, Black Books, Big Train and Green Wing (if of course you haven't already).And how can Isla Fisher get more beautiful? She's been a crush of mine for about 10 years (Home and Away is just not the same anymore!).
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The Day Today, Brass Eye and (if you think you're hardcore random enough) Jam by the legendary Chris Morris.
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but man...those were the shortest reviews you've ever published here on AICN...I'm gonna see both of these movies though...
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Sounds like Quint gave the flick a pass because he posted his interview with them a day apart. 'Hot Rod' looks, smells and feels like a floater. On the other hand, 'Rescue Dawn' looks fantastic. Better yet, spend your hard-earned bucks on 'The Monster Squad' and rejoice.
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But I hated him in Empire of the Sun. Little brat. Just thinking about him pisses me off!
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. . . than the one he's played in EVERY single one of his other films?
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Stop looking at this hand that's telling the story, look over here! LOOK OVER HERE! It's a dolphin fucking a beachball! HERDY HAR!
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fucking inspired, but not random
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Jul 25, 2007 8:51:44 AM CDT
You might wanna watch LITTLE DIETER WANTS TO FLY, Quint
by ernieanderson
RESCUE DAWN is a true story.
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The epilogue is fairly straightforward and a bit cliche (even though it was true - as recalled in LDNTF), especially following the haunting scenes in the jungle. However, I think it is necessary as an emotional release. If it ended too abrubtly (without the last 5 minutes), I think the viewer would not have a chance to come down from the horrowing intensity of the preceding hour and fifty minutes. I'm all for leaving things at a high pitch, but I can't see it being better than the great feeling I had leaving the theater. Little Deiter Needs to Fly did have a better ending with the 'heaven for pilots', but that couldn't have worked for this. The only thing that bugged me in Rescue Dawn was that fucking idiot at the end that introduces Deiter to the crew. He was very irritating.
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They're humor is random as random can be and I find them hilarious and think Wet Hot Am Summer is an under valued cult gem.
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Sometimes, cliches are good.
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I fucking love Stella, and behind Superbad "The Ten" is going to be the funniest movie of the summer, GUARANTEED!
Also, I know everyone loves their little boy-toy Christian Bale, but most of the movies he's been in are, well, MEDIOCRE. Don't get me wrong, he's a talented actor and he's willing to take some chances with his roles, but "ëquilibrium" was uder-realized, "Reign of Fire" was almost too rediculous, and "The Machinist" I just didn't think was very solid at all. I don't think we should start handing him oscars until he shows a little more subtlety. (albeit, I have not yet seen "Rescue Dawn" and I've heard he's great.) -
I disagree about equilibrium (though calling it under-realized isn't unfair) and Machinist, but what about American Psycho, Batman Begins, Prestige, New World, All the Little Animals? I think he deserves the acclaim he's getting.
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Talk about puns ;)
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That's not a genre; I'm guessing you guys mean stupid or toilet humor.
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Hmmm....random humor, eh? Quint - you must be a HUGE "The Family Guy" fan :)Jokes don't come more random than on that show (I don't think).
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...again.
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...then I am most certainly not into random humor. Man, talk about a comedy for people with a lousy sense of humor..
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I'm totally in agreement with you buddy. Those jokes aren't random, half of the time they're just made-up scenarios that contain no grain of truth or logic. People laugh because they know who Wilfred Brimley is. Totally lame.
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