Movie 43
MOVIE 43 (15)
D: Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundieff,
James Duffy, Griffin Dunne, Peter Farrelly, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Bob Odenkirk, Brett Ratner & Jonathan van Tulleken
Relativity Media/Virgin (Charles B. Wessler, John Penotti,
Peter Farrelly & Ryan Kavanaugh)
US 2013
94 mins
Comedy
W: Rocky Russo, Jeremy Sosenko, Ricky Blitt, Bill O'Malley,
Will Graham, Jack Kukoda, Matt Portenoy, Claes Kjellstrom, Jonas Wittenmark, Tobias Carlson, Will Carlough, Jonathan van Tulleken, Elizabeth Shapiro, Patrik Forsberg, Olle Sarri, Jacob Fleisher,
Greg Pritikin, James Gunn, Bob Odenkirk & Steve Baker
Elizabeth Banks (Amy), Kristen Bell (Supergirl), Halle Berry
(Emily), Kate Bosworth (Arlene), Gerard Butler (Leprechaun), Josh Duhamel (Anson), Anna Faris (Julie), Richard Gere (Boss), Terrence Howard (Coach Jackson), Hugh Jackman (Davis), Johnny Knoxville
(Pete), Justin Long (Robin), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Mikey), Chloë Moretz (Amanda), Chris Pratt (Doug), Liev Schreiber (Robert Miller), Seann William Scott (Brian), Emma Stone (Veronica), Jason
Sudeikis (Batman), Uma Thurman (Lois Lane), Naomi Watts (Samantha Miller), Kate Winslet (Beth)
The most accurate and succinct way of describing Movie 43
would be as a profligate, unfunny mess.
This Kentucky Fried Movie (qv) inspired sketch show assembles
a huge cast of some of Hollywood's biggest names, only to completely embarrass them with such a pathetic and poorly-written script.
There are actually two versions of the film, with the UK
version having a wraparound featuring a group of kids searching online for the fabled Movie 43 and instead finding a seemingly endless stream of short films.
The American version features Dennis Quaid as an unscrupulous
movie producer responsible for the making of Movie 43 (a rather poor stab at self-referential humour).
The short films are all of the poorest possible taste,
featuring stories ranging from a man musing on the best way to take a dump on his girlfriend, superhero speed-dating, a teenage girl who gets her first period and Halle Berry making guacamole
with her tits. There was also going to be a story about necrophilia, but producers deemed this a line which shouldn't be crossed.
I
could admire the fact that each different story was helmed by a different director, it's something which has been done in the past to varying effect, but here it's just done badly.
13 directors, twice as many writers, but not a single moment
which could be classed as slightly amusing. The strangest thing is how the filmmakers amassed such a huge cast to appear in this rubbish. Did the big name stars lose a bet, or did the producers
resort to blackmail? Either way, everyone involved in this nonsensical hodgepodge should hang their heads in shame for earning any kind of remuneration.
It's understandable that not a single
person involved in the film did any promotional work for it. It begs the question if they only contributed to the production because they lost a bet.
1/10
