Comedy: Hot Rod

Hot Rod (2007)

SNLer Andy Samberg plays Rod Kimble, a manchild that believes being a stunt man is his birthright. Unfortunately, his stunt vehicle is a piece of shit moped, and his dead father wasn't actually a stunt man. Sissy Spacek actually plays the mother in this typical SNL-type slapstick comedy, with Ian McShane playing Samberg's abusive stepdad, Frank.

A good portion of the movie focuses on Rod's goal to raise money for a heart transplant for Frank. Rod despises Frank so much that he wants to save his life so Rod can finally kick Frank's ass! Fellow SNLers Bill Hader and Jorma Taccone costar as members of Rod's team. Hader's slacker grease-monkey persona definitely added humor to the movie, as did Danny R. McBride's character Rico, who is the muscle of the team.

After reading that the budget on this movie was around $25 million, and that the part of Rod was originally written for Will Ferrell, my opinion of this movie sank. It was just that typical quirky character based comedy coming out of the 30 Rockefeller crowd for the last couple of decades. Since I'm actually a fan of those types of comedies, and there are actually a few knee slapping scenes, I'll have to say

ahhhhh, it was okay