Jiminy Glick in Gagawood

This is not a mainstream comedy, it's a Canadian thing, ehh. A lot of in-jokes and offbeat humor. If you are not familiar with the Jiminy Glick character, you will not get a lot of the humor. Watching it was like watching the old SCTV skits/movies that Short did back in the day in Toronto. I will admit, I laughed 10X harder the 2nd time I saw it, because you do pick up more stuff and lines. This plot for this movie was a favorite vehicle on SCTV back in the 1980s, mixing different movies together to make one confused and painfully funny movie. Sometimes, the plot would get so contrived that even the characters were confused, but that is the point. The David Lynch impersonation is timeless, coupled with The Shining references, Matthew and Modine, etc. and so many other story-lines. This comedy style is not for everybody, nor is Martin Short, but I love him and I LOVED THIS MOVIE! Better each time you see it.

Martin Short combining his original, quirky, humor using a David Lynch backdrop really hit the spot for me, as I am a huge fan of both personalities. I was pleasantly surprised by the seamless transition from T.V. Glick to Cinema Glick, and witnessing Glick's family come to life. I think I'll have to watch the film again to fully appreciate the lines and subtleties of the "Euro-trash" character. His improvisation was totally random but somehow made comedic sense in its absurdities. I would speculate that if a person hasn't already seen 'Primetime Glick' and laughed at Glick in his original form, one might not "get" the humor, and understand why Short would conceive such a seemingly absurd plot.

Oh, and I love that Christine Willes appeared in the first sequence - where did she come from??!!

I was just browsing through IMDb.com one day and I noticed that Martin Short had a new movie coming out called "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood." When I first looked at the title, I was like it can't be but it was true, a movie based on the hilarious show called "Primetime Glick" on Comedy Central. I looked at the release date and it said a few weeks a way. I was waiting to see the trailer or the poster but guess what neither happened until the beginning of this week when both the trailer and the poster hit the web. Sadly, the marketing on this movie is so poor that I doubt more than 20 people heard about it. But since I was a fan of the show, I drove up to Los Angeles tonight so I could see "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood"

The fat film critic is back in his first(and probably his last) feature film. In the film, Jiminy Glick (Martin Short) gets invited to go to the Toronto Film Festival. Jiminy starts off at the festival as the interviewer no one wants to talk to but when he gets an exclusive with Ben DiCarlo (Corey Pearson), Glick becomes the biggest star at the festival. But between his 15 minutes of fame,Jiminy gets wrapped up in a murder case at the festival. Lots of laughs and homages to old movies ensue…

I really loved this film! When it first started off I laughed and then about 5 minutes later I wasn't laughing anymore but then about 5 minutes later I was laughing throughout the rest of the film. Martin Short is a comedic genius. His roles are so unique and bizarre that I don't think many can begin to understand Short's humor. I get his humor and love it. The movie is everything "Primetime Glick" was and more. The whole Martin Short making fun of David Lynch was an instant classic for me. "I'm David Lynch and I like dark roads that lead to nothing." Funny stuff! And the great thing about this film vs. the last comedy central film I saw "Strangers with Candy" this film dared to make itself more extreme. There was a lot of adult humor and cursing. Something I felt "Strangers with Candy" needed more of. They really expanded the character in this movie and the cameo interviews by Kevin Kline, Steve Martin, Rob Lowe and Kurt Russell are worth the price of admission alone. Not to mention seeing the other cameos but I won't ruin them all for you. I will let you see for yourself.

Martin Short did so much work on this film, he wrote it, produced it, and starred in it as two characters. It was such fun to see this character alive on the big screen, I just wish that more people knew about the movie or the show for that matter because I would like to see it make some decent money but from the looks of it, it will have an extremely limited theater run and then become one of those 1-2 copiers at the video store which you see one day and pick up and rent. Not for me, I will be buying this thing when it comes up. I actually wish I had money otherwise I would see it again when I got a chance, it was that funny and I really think its one of those films that when you watch it again you can pick up on new jokes you may have missed the first time around.

The film was obviously low budget and shot pretty much in Canada to keep the costs down. The film did a great job for what it was suppose to do. I have never heard of director Vadim Jean before but he has done a few other low budget films. I don't know if this is an up and coming director but his resume is online and he has another project filming so maybe will see more of Vadim soon.

In conclusion, "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood" is a great unique comedy. Martin Short's character Jiminy Glick is a laugh riot. You either like the character or hate him they are no in-between with this one. If you liked the series "Primetime Glick" like I did then see this movie because you will really enjoy it. If you haven't seen the show I think you should give it a try at the theater at a matinée just to see if you like it. And finally if you're a fan of Martin Short then definitely go see the film! If I get a chance to catch this one again while it's in its short run in the theaters I will definitely try to catch it again.

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood" is a 8 out of 10. Go to the theater and enjoy yourself!

I've rated this an 8 because even though it has trying sections, if you're a Glick nut like me, it's worth waiting (or on disc, fast forwarding past them) to reach the good stuff. The man Martin Short describes as a moron with power leaves his home in Butte, Montana and takes wife Dixie and two of their boys up to Toronto for the big film fest. And once there, the laughs really kick into high gear. Jiminy sleeps through a big ticket premiere, then writes a bogus rave review and, as only Glick could, lands a prized sit down television interview with it's reclusive star!

Short does double duty as Glick and director David Lynch, an uncanny imitation that holds the silly plot together with his recounting of the parallel Lana Turner / Johnny Stompanato scandal that forever changed the life of her daughter, Cheryl Crane. Elizabeth Perkins and my favourite, Linda Cardellini, star as a celebrity mother and her child who have the unfortunate lowlife producer Andre (played by the great John Michael Higgins) in their world like a sleazy time bomb waiting to go off. At least, his vulgar mouth is constantly ready for yet another wicked and disgusting remark.

Glick's "hard hitting" segments with Steve Martin and Kurt Russell are truly funny and the send ups of festival behaviour are probably closer to the truth than industry publicists would care to admit. If Short ever makes a sequel, let's hope there are flashbacks that give Higgins and Cardellini a chance to further flesh out their characters' lives and careers. I need a Glick fix!

You certainly have to be a huge fan of Martin Short's ridiculous character Glick -if not a Hollywood-philic moviegoer instead- to really appreciate this hangin' around-at-the-Toronto Film Festival, full-of-cameos, Hollywood-inner-joke comedy.

And of course forget the plot, cause it doesn't matter at all when you dig this kind of film. In fact, because of its chaotic structure, "Jiminy Glick on La La Wood" doesn't make it as a cool movie.

But it's loaded with self-deprecating glimpses, movie industry sarcasms and art-house parody (specially the David Lynch one), which makes it fairly enjoyable by film junkies.

6.5 out of 10 if with a couple of beers.