2016 mockumentary
Rating: 14/20
Plot: A former boy band member deals with the critical and commercial failure of the follow-up to his first solo album.
I'm not sure how the cameos and contemporary references are going to hold up long term, and the final 1/4th of this movie falls apart a little bit and the movie loses some energy, but I thought this sort-of pop version of Spinal Tap with a 21st Century sheen was pretty funny. I didn't want to like it because I don't like that Andy Samberg is married to Joanna Newsom. It just doesn't make sense to me. But he inhabits this detestable character and never gets caught winking at the camera. Along with Samberg, every single other person who A) has ever been in a movie and B) is still alive is in this movie. And that includes Joanna Newsom, I'm noticing now, even though I missed her when I watched this.
There she is. I don't even remember a minor character looking like that.
This movie did very poorly in theaters, but I'm not sure why because Adam Levine is in it and he's a very sexy man. I don't think this is going to find an audience in ten years because we'll all be in the future and this movie will stay right here where it is. But people who pick it up now will find some laughs.
Going in, I really expected to hate, or at least have contempt for this movie. I was wrong. While not everything lands, the mockumentary throws in so many bits, in-jokes, and funny lines that I was tickled from beginning to end. I liked all of the characters, especially Samberg, and the film accomplished everything it was trying to do. A 16.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree, almost to the point where I feel like I should have gone a point higher. You're right that not all the comedy works here, but they throw so much at you that there's enough funny in the thing to match up with most other good comedies out there.
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