Hot Rod (2007)

Directed by Akiva Schaffer. Starring Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher, Ian McShane, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone, Sissy Spacek, Will Arnett, Chris Parnell, Chester Tam. [PG-13]

Bungling amateur daredevil Rod Kimble (Samberg), aspiring to become a famous stuntman like the deceased father he never knew, plans a spectacular stunt to raise money for the heart transplant his pugnacious stepfather (McShane) needs…so Rod can finally “uncork the ass beating of a lifetime” on the old man. The screenplay is credited to “South Park” writer/producer Pam Brady, but the shambolic plot (de)construction and sense of humor emerging from the uncredited rewrites make it feel like a feature-length project for comedy trio The Lonely Island (comprised of Samberg, director Akiva Shaffer, and co-star Jorma Taccone), who rose to prominence with the Digital Short segments on “Saturday Night Live”. Appears at a glance to be a one-joke concept—Rod sees himself as a fearless, gnarly local fixture, yet all he does is crash and burn and embarrass himself—but even though the absurdist anti-comedy tone runs end to end, the subjects and styles shift frequently (deadpan one-liners, anarchic slapstick, spoofs of homegrown comedy sketches and web-based music/dance packages, etc.), and it follows a tweaked “underdog story” formula while having real affection for these oddballs and dreamers. Bonus: they never succumb to cheap sentiment or life lessons, preferring instead to see a grown man violently vacating his bowels as a moment of triumph for his attacker right before the credits roll. Rockers rejoice, the band, “Gown”, playing at the climactic motorcycle jump is an incognito Queens of the Stone Age.

74/100