Movie 43 (2013)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release: January 25, 2013
Blu Ray Release: June 18, 2013
Director(s): Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundieff, James Duffy, Griffin Dunne, Peter Farrelly, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Brett Ratner, Jonathan van Tulleken
R
Review by James Klein
What some people may find funny, some people may find obnoxious or humorless. I still don't understand how many parents don't find Airplane to be funny but can laugh at an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. I don't understand how someone can't find humor in an old Three Stooges short but can laugh at a movie like 21 & Over. But it is what it is. Comedies provoke some sort of laughter from various people and anger and boredom from others. Which brings me to Movie 43. Movie 43 is one of the most strangest, most bizarre, most shocking (for a mainstream Hollywood film) comedies I have seen in quite some time. Critics and most audiences hated it. It's already guaranteed to win at the Razzies and 2013 isn't even over yet. However, I laughed pretty hard while watching Movie 43. In fact, I rather enjoyed this sophomoric and juvenile movie. It's stupid and yet insanely bold and refreshingly original.
Movie 43 is an anthology of sorts. The movie starts off with an insane movie pitch presented by Charlie Wessler (Dennis Quaid) who is trying to sell a movie to producer Griffin Schraedar (Greg Kinnear). His idea is numerous short films that are just downright shockingly offensive and crude. The first short segment may be the best one as Beth (Kate Winslet) goes out on a date with playboy Davis (Hugh Jackman) who, when they arrive at a fancy restaurant and he takes his scarf off, has testicles growing out of his neck. Just to watch two Academy Award nominated actors play in such a silly short just had me in stitches. When Jackman is holding a baby and his neck balls are resting on the baby's head, I couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. If you think this would make you laugh, then that's what you're getting into with Movie 43. If you find this unfunny, mean-spirited or dumb, stay away from Movie 43. It's that simple.
I am still amazed the film makers and writers were able to get actors like Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Richard Gere, Terrance Howard, and Emma Stone to even be in this film. Did they do it as a favor? Either way, I actually like these actors much more now that I know they actually have a sense of humor (a dirty sense of humor in fact) and can break away from their overly serious dramatic roles to play in something as stupid as this. To see skits involving a woman who wants her lover to defecate on her during sex, two men brutally fighting a leprechaun in search of gold, Batman cock-blocking Robin when trying to go out for a date, parents homeschooling their child to the extreme, and a teenage girls first period with the men around her not knowing what to do...all had me cracking up or at least smiling. That's more than I can say with the awful remakes/reboots or recycled superhero garbage that is filling our theaters.
Movie 43 is not perfect. The wrap around story, while funny, just suddenly loses its steam and ends. A few segments are just dull or go on too long. Movie 43 is like eating White Castle. It tastes good and you sometimes crave it, but by no means is it good for you. I think the films biggest flaw is saving the worst segment (involving a man in love with his animated cat) for last which puts a damper on an otherwise funny movie.
The blu ray is something else I want to talk about. It contains both the U.S. version and the U.K. Unrated version. The one shown in U.S. theaters has the Dennis Quaid/Greg Kinnear story. The one in the U.K. omits this completely and stars a bunch of teenage boys who are trying to find the most offensive movie ever on the internet which they heard was called Movie 43. While this segment actually makes more sense than the U.S. version, its not that funny and the film almost stops dead every time it goes back to this story. But I think its really kind of neat to see two different versions presented here on blu ray. There is also a short segment that wasn't in either versions in the special features section starring Julianne Moore and Tony Shalhoub and directed by Bob Odenkirk (best known as Sal on Breaking Bad) involving parents looking for their missing daughter. The segment is humorous but in no way as dirty as some of the other segments presented in the film so I'm not sure why this was taken out. The picture and sound look great like most recent films hitting blu ray. I would have loved an audio commentary or a making of featurette but alas, there is none to be found.
Movie 43 is a hell of a lot funnier than this years The Hangover Part III which I found vile. It's more entertaining than the overlong, CGI shitfest Man of Steel. It actually made a profit unlike the overblown The Lone Ranger. Let me ask you this: do you find a man accidentally stepping in dog shit to be funny? If so, then your sense of humor is along the lines of Movie 43.
[Rating: 3]
Theatrical Release: January 25, 2013
Blu Ray Release: June 18, 2013
Director(s): Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundieff, James Duffy, Griffin Dunne, Peter Farrelly, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Brett Ratner, Jonathan van Tulleken
R
Review by James Klein
What some people may find funny, some people may find obnoxious or humorless. I still don't understand how many parents don't find Airplane to be funny but can laugh at an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. I don't understand how someone can't find humor in an old Three Stooges short but can laugh at a movie like 21 & Over. But it is what it is. Comedies provoke some sort of laughter from various people and anger and boredom from others. Which brings me to Movie 43. Movie 43 is one of the most strangest, most bizarre, most shocking (for a mainstream Hollywood film) comedies I have seen in quite some time. Critics and most audiences hated it. It's already guaranteed to win at the Razzies and 2013 isn't even over yet. However, I laughed pretty hard while watching Movie 43. In fact, I rather enjoyed this sophomoric and juvenile movie. It's stupid and yet insanely bold and refreshingly original.
Movie 43 is an anthology of sorts. The movie starts off with an insane movie pitch presented by Charlie Wessler (Dennis Quaid) who is trying to sell a movie to producer Griffin Schraedar (Greg Kinnear). His idea is numerous short films that are just downright shockingly offensive and crude. The first short segment may be the best one as Beth (Kate Winslet) goes out on a date with playboy Davis (Hugh Jackman) who, when they arrive at a fancy restaurant and he takes his scarf off, has testicles growing out of his neck. Just to watch two Academy Award nominated actors play in such a silly short just had me in stitches. When Jackman is holding a baby and his neck balls are resting on the baby's head, I couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. If you think this would make you laugh, then that's what you're getting into with Movie 43. If you find this unfunny, mean-spirited or dumb, stay away from Movie 43. It's that simple.
I am still amazed the film makers and writers were able to get actors like Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Richard Gere, Terrance Howard, and Emma Stone to even be in this film. Did they do it as a favor? Either way, I actually like these actors much more now that I know they actually have a sense of humor (a dirty sense of humor in fact) and can break away from their overly serious dramatic roles to play in something as stupid as this. To see skits involving a woman who wants her lover to defecate on her during sex, two men brutally fighting a leprechaun in search of gold, Batman cock-blocking Robin when trying to go out for a date, parents homeschooling their child to the extreme, and a teenage girls first period with the men around her not knowing what to do...all had me cracking up or at least smiling. That's more than I can say with the awful remakes/reboots or recycled superhero garbage that is filling our theaters.
Movie 43 is not perfect. The wrap around story, while funny, just suddenly loses its steam and ends. A few segments are just dull or go on too long. Movie 43 is like eating White Castle. It tastes good and you sometimes crave it, but by no means is it good for you. I think the films biggest flaw is saving the worst segment (involving a man in love with his animated cat) for last which puts a damper on an otherwise funny movie.
The blu ray is something else I want to talk about. It contains both the U.S. version and the U.K. Unrated version. The one shown in U.S. theaters has the Dennis Quaid/Greg Kinnear story. The one in the U.K. omits this completely and stars a bunch of teenage boys who are trying to find the most offensive movie ever on the internet which they heard was called Movie 43. While this segment actually makes more sense than the U.S. version, its not that funny and the film almost stops dead every time it goes back to this story. But I think its really kind of neat to see two different versions presented here on blu ray. There is also a short segment that wasn't in either versions in the special features section starring Julianne Moore and Tony Shalhoub and directed by Bob Odenkirk (best known as Sal on Breaking Bad) involving parents looking for their missing daughter. The segment is humorous but in no way as dirty as some of the other segments presented in the film so I'm not sure why this was taken out. The picture and sound look great like most recent films hitting blu ray. I would have loved an audio commentary or a making of featurette but alas, there is none to be found.
Movie 43 is a hell of a lot funnier than this years The Hangover Part III which I found vile. It's more entertaining than the overlong, CGI shitfest Man of Steel. It actually made a profit unlike the overblown The Lone Ranger. Let me ask you this: do you find a man accidentally stepping in dog shit to be funny? If so, then your sense of humor is along the lines of Movie 43.
[Rating: 3]
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