Hot Rod

Rod Kimble needs to beat his stepfather in a fight to earn his respect, which first means paying for the man's heart surgery, which means jumping fifteen buses. The entire logic of the film is in that sentence. The script was originally written for Will Ferrell by Pam Brady of South Park. When Ferrell's version stalled at Paramount, producer Lorne Michaels persuaded the studio to hand it to The Lonely Island, fresh off Lazy Sunday. The trio rewrote it. Samberg described the approach as bad, but you know it's bad, with absurdist comedies like Wet Hot American Summer as the reference. It opened on 3 August 2007 at number nine with 5.3 million dollars and finished under 14 million against a 25 million budget. Metacritic gave it 43 and Rotten Tomatoes 39 percent, though Roger Ebert handed it three stars out of four and praised its sincerity. Michaels turned out to be right: the film became a cult item and is far better known now than it was on release. Who it is for: viewers who like absurdity and comedy built on repetition. Who it is not for: anyone wanting structure. It really is shapeless, and some scenes go nowhere.