Hot Rod
Release Date: August 3, 2007
Starring: Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher, Jorma Taccone, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Will Arnett, Chris Parnell, Sissy Spacek, Ian McShane
Directed by: Akiva Schaffer
 READ MORE: 'SNL' Players Rev Up 'Hot Rod'
 WATCH THE TRAILER
REVIEW (posted 8/3/07)
This one goes out to anyone who worshipped Adam Sandler back when he was hallucinating penguins in Billy Madison, who can’t conduct basic conversation without quoting from Anchorman, and who has been waiting since adolescence for someone to finally stage a graphically violent brawl between a grilled cheese and a taco. Andy Samberg, who rose from online buzz to an SNL gig (only to have his breakout stardom confirmed by the YouTube-defining sketches “Lazy Sunday” and “Dick in a Box”) stars as Rod Kimble, an inept amateur stuntman. It’s a premise primed for copious head-trauma gags, and while it’s to Hot Rod’s credit that the collisions remain painfully funny throughout, the most inspired moments here are daffy detours from rationality: the writers (including South Park vet Pam Brady, Samberg’s Lonely Island troupe and an uncredited Will Ferrell) put plot a distant second to reality-bending, dumbass flights of fancy. There’s a tumble down a mountainside that seems to last an eighth of the movie, while the frequent appearance of spirit animals floating above Rod’s head (“bottlenose dolphin!”) is an inspired screwball touch. Samberg is winningly goofy, but the movie’s ultimately an ensemble piece, from Bill Hader’s wolf-shirted, slow-witted mechanic to Will Arnett’s sly turn as Samberg’s Corvette-driving, d-bag rival. In Knocked Up and Superbad, the summer’s other big dude-comedies, the heroes slowly grow up—Hot Rod wisely dispenses with any such awakening. The fantasy here – dubious as life choices go, but great for a 90-minute comedy – is that you can stay 16 forever.
—Jonah Weiner
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Andy Samberg and Isla Fisher in Hot Rod.
Courtesy of Paramount
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Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.