Hot Rod

HOT ROD (2007) - Aug. 3, 2007
A surprisingly funny film about an aspiring stuntman who decides to try to pull off one big stunt to raise enough money to save his adoptive father's life. Since Adam Sandler has apparently lost the ability to be funny, Andy Samberg seems to be a fairly decent replacement. It actually reminded me a lot of Happy Gilmore, right down to the fact that the main character needs to raise money for a loved one. The movie is exceptionally silly, and the jokes are somewhat hit and miss, but there are more hits than misses -- and some of the hits are big ones (I laughed so hard that it brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion). I would imagine that with the film's bizarre, oddball sense of humour, it'll be a love it or hate it type of thing. The film also eschews things like plot and character development in favour of lots of gags, but it worked. I thought it was probably one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. ***