Hot Rod

Directed by: Akiva Schaffer
Starring: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Bill Hader, Isla Fisher, Sissy Spacek, Ian McShane, Will Arnett
Running Time: 1h 28min

If you enjoyed the 80s, or enjoy laughing at the 80s, or wish they made movies like they did in the 80s, then Hot Rod is for you.

When i say, "make movies like they did in the 80s", i mean it. Hot Rod captures that feeling completely! Not in a spoofy way, either. It's as though this film was actually shot and developed in the 80s. Which is the best way to spoof anything--to realistically recreate it, and let the straightforward presentation be interpreted by the audience for the hilarious parody that it is. This is the "Airplane!" or "Top Secret" of 1980s films. Definitely not the "Date Movie", (jam as many scenes from recent movies as you can, with a fat or fart joke for good measure), type of lame duck comedy.

Right from the opening credits, you question whether you accidentally hooked up the VCR instead of the Blu-ray player, or stepped into a retro cinema, rather than an IMAX experience. i saw this one at the Drive-in, adding greater pleasure to the throwback nature of the film. The cheesy soundtrack seems like Footloose 2, and when you see him take a run out into the forest, shadow boxing himself, you can just smell the Kevin Bacon in the air.

Even though all the eightyosity makes for an amusing film experience, let's face it. Those cheesy 80s teen movies weren't all that great, which means spoofing them straight up makes for a silly, yet still kind of lame movie. Hot Rod's plot, centered around a boy who wants to do an amazing stunt to raise money so that he can save his step dad's life just so he can kick his ass, Mano e Mano, is a goofy as it gets. So as the film unfolds with all the slapstick missed stunts and TV after school special crying fits of the actors, it's funny, but in a bad way.

Still, you have to admire the lovingly way these guys approach this film. They must really have immersed themselves in plenty of synthesized soundtracks and anti-climatic teen dramas to make such a faithfully reconstructed parody. Definitely not for everyone, but those in on the joke, with think this is "cool beans".

Grade: C+