Movie 43
By Sean Lynch
In a world where big studios hand out budgets of $120M - $250M for cinematic equivalents of a bucket of poo, it's hard to really get angry when something like Movie 43 fails as miserably as it does.
Why? Shot with a budget of around 3% of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Movie 43 - for all its flaws - at least attempts something different.
It's been a long time since cinemas encountered a sketch comedy movie, largely because it's a comedy style that's never really been suited for the format. Even when it's done well (Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" and "And Now For Something Completely Different" come to mind, as does 1977's "The Kentucky Fried Movie") there are just as many that fall flat.
However all those "great" sketch movies - including Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex* (*but were afraid to ask)" - were made before sketch had been able to find it's home.
Now, in an era with multiple TV stations dedicated to half hour and even 15 minute comedy, YouTube and Funny Or Die, there really is no reason for people to pay money to go to the cinemas in order to see sketches which - by the very subjective nature of comedy - are bound to be hit or miss.
And it's in this regard Movie 43 fails as a FILM.
From the twisted minds of producers Peter Farrelly (Hall Pass, Shallow Hal) and Charles Wessler (There's Something About Mary, Dumb & Dumber) Movie 43 boasts an eclectic and impressive cast with a series of sketches... all aiming at the lower end of the brow. There's poo jokes, dick jokes and even some incest - on paper that sounds terrible, but in reality it's really not all that bad.
If these sketches popped up individually on your Facebook NewsFeed, they'd likely go viral and generate quite a few laughs. However, jammed together with an inescapable 94 minute running time, Movie 43 feels like a long winded lame duck.
Again, this is not to say the sketches aren't funny... because most of them are... it's just that sketch comedy as a form struggles to maintain it's potency within TV's 24 minute constraints, let alone an hour and half.
So here's what I'm saying. Sketches including Stephen Merchant and Halle Berry on a first date, Hugh Jackman with balls on his chin, Liev Schreiber as a home schooling dad, Batman & Robin speed dating, a girl getting her period around boys... these are all GOOD, FUNNY sketches. These are sketches you should cut up individually, put on your YouTube channel and watch separately and LOVE.
They ARE funny (despite what reviewers of this flick have previously suggested), they just aren't funny within the constraints of the medium of a movie.
Hate the player, don't hate the game... and in the case of Movie 43 - we shouldn't be hating sketch comedy... we should be hating on sketch comedy within the constraints of a movie.
Conclusion: Movie 69% Extras: N/A
