The Mother of Invention

2009 mockumentary

Rating: 13/20

Plot: Vincent Dooly, inventor extraordinaire, has dreamed of winning the Young Inventor's Award. Unfortunately, there's a more talented young inventor standing in his way, an inventor whose ideas actually do sort of work. Now, at the age of 25, Vincent has one final chance to win the competition and put himself on the map as an inventing superstar.

In order for a mockumentary to work, there's got to be a certain amount of believability. The Mother of Invention doesn't have that. It also doesn't have a likable protagonist. In fact, Dooly--played with a speech impediment by Andrew Bowser who also directed this thing--is way too annoying. And there's so much exposition with the character. We're shown way too many failed inventions. It's almost like the writers of this just decided to throw every single idea they've ever had at the screen with hopes that some would stick and be funny. The inventions are silly, and the absurd situations and oddball character just go too far to make this work as a documentary. A few of you might remember that name Andrew Bowser from Jimmy Tupper vs. the Goatman of Bowie which I watched during my "man" streak. This movie is more consistently funny than that one although it's not nearly as believable as a faux-documentary. And maybe I am overrating the believability factor with this genre. Maybe an audience really has to buy what's going on for one of those found footage horror movies to work more than a comedy like this. The comedy here, when it does stick, is very funny. Jimmi Simpson is especially funny as the rival inventor although I don't like that that he spells his first name with an i. Mark Boone Junior plays Vincent's estranged father, and he's good, too. After Memento, by the way, I'm now 2/3rd of the way to completing an unplanned Mark Boone Junior trifecta. I really liked the footage this showed from Tears of a Child, Vincent's movie project that looks like it'd be right up my alley. And there's a very funny gag at the end of this. In fact, it might be the funniest gag I've seen all year. And a glance at the opposite page might reveal that there's a little something else going on. Anyway, if you're a fan of the genre and don't mind sitting through a lot of stuff that doesn't work, you might like this one OK. And I'm going to continue to have faith in Andrew Bowser. I think there's a possibility, once he learns to edit and have a story with enough in it to legitimately fill ninety minutes, that he'll make a near-classic or two.