‘Independent’ movie
lacks good laughs, parody, satire
By Bradley Zint
Online Forty-Niner
Opinion Editor
I like funny movies. I like laughing, but “My Big Fat Independent
Movie” was not especially funny, and is not likely to arouse many laughs – out
loud, at least. Directed by Philip Zlotorynski and written by Adam Schwartz and
Chris Gore, this film is an all-too-often botched attempt at slapstick, satire,
parody and comedy.
The film provides allusions and comedic parodies of 30 different independent
films, including such classics as “Pulp Fiction,” “Swingers,” “Memento” and “My
Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Therein lies its true strength: not in being all
too funny, but rather being clever by somehow managing to include so many film
references in a single story.
Speaking of which, the story itself is loose and seemingly unimportant. Odd,
yes, but “Independent Movie” manages to slide along at a fast pace
even though it is held together by an extremely loose plot.
The film is the story of Johnny Vince meeting two hit men, Sam and Harvey, who
are both modeled from the infamous gun-slinging, “you know what they call
a Quarter Pounder with cheese in Paris” duo from Quentin Tarantino’s
masterpiece, “Pulp Fiction.” These crackpots try to pull off a robbery
in Las Vegas but have some adventures along the way.
The film does have some funny moments, all lowbrow humor, with even a very funny
celebrity cameo of Pauly Shore, a random midget, and lesbians.
Acting-wise, the performances were very inconsistent. Perhaps those were due
to an also inconsistently strong script, and were the best the actors could do.
So if the acting isn’t great, the story is practically nonexistent and
the movie isn’t that funny, why watch it? There are reasons to watch, especially
if you’re a big film buff. If you have seen many independent films, the
real entertainment of the movie could be identifying the numerous references
and jokes. It’s not name that tune, but rather, name that joke. Ha.
While watching the film, I found myself wanting it to be as good as some of the
other classic spoofs and parodies, like “Airplane,” the “Naked Gun” series, “Hot Shots,” and
Mel Brooks films. Those movies were witty, well-acted and contained both clever
lowbrow humor.
Unfortunately, this film could not quite make it up to par with those comedic
masterpieces. Better movies aside, I recommend “Independent Movie” mainly
to viewers who will pick up its numerous references from the independent cinematic
screen.
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