Madness in the Method

I was going to buy this movie no matter the reviews as I am a fan of Mewes and think he is under appreciated. So much more fun when the plot of the movie is that he is under appreciated. This movie is not an Oscar candidate but it was really fun to watch. I dug it. I laughed.

Jay Mewes strikes back! With his first directorial debut, clearly he has been taking notes all these years, or directing is as easy as Kevin Smith makes it look snoogins. A lot of recognizable faces makes this a must see film for anyone who is a fan of Mewes, or tongue in cheek comedy parodies/mockumentery stylized portrayals of real people. Very funny, and smart highly recommend, or recommended if high 😜

This isn't great british comedy, Hot Shots or Best in Show, but it is entertaining. If you look for the perfect comedy, this isn't it, but it you're happy enough with a comedy that does produce actual laugh out loud moments (in difference to the wast majority of romcoms) and plenty of chuckling moments this is a great pick. This does have some really original comedic scenes and in others it dares to go for it, several things do not work some works but doesn't belong or rather ad to the movie itself. (I do not see this as a spoiler as it is the name of the movie, but if you think it is dont read the following sentence). The parody of method acting and that it's really not acting but relative madness is quite fitting. For a laid back saturday or sunday when the rain poors down you can do alot worse.

The cinematography isn't the best, it's to raw - a trick used in low budget movies is usually to upscale the equipment and boost the contrast/bloom (afaik) to get a more expensive looking result - it's not used here. Something that does bring the grade up is the adaptation of it to the parody at hand, which works well. The acting is what you can exspect, not aced but neither bad, Vinnie Jones does a solid performances and Gina Carano (which i personally have hopes for to become the first female Bond) even as alluring doesn't perform as well as could be anticipated. There are some seeworthy side roles - Vinnie jones, Terri Hatcher, Stan Lee and Mickey Gooch Jr (which doesn't nail the has been ex cop but isn't too far from landing a decent performance - as that role pays homage to several well known spoofs and roles in known movies that is essentially better than anticipated).

*Most moviebuff will probably find this entertaining, there are plenty of homages and spoofs on other movies in it (note that they aren't as clear as mainstream usually feeds) - notice how the camera angles and cinematography change severely to mimic known pieces at a handful of times.

It felt like there was a lot of potential in this film. Jason Mewes plays up the whole famous for Clerks bit up. Even Vinne Jones is good in this film and that is a genuine compliment. It just felt very amatuer. I am not sure if that was intentional but if it was then it doesn't work. It really is just famous people playing themselves up and a plot that involves an unintentional murder and buying a comic book off Ebay. Its a good film to watch but it just felt like it could have been much better. Maybe you need to be a Clerks groupie to fully appreciate it.

I'm not really sure the film's central premise about the star turning to method acting gets explored very much. It's more of a traditional murder mystery. I think if the method acting premise got more of a look-in the film would have been more interesting but because of that the film doesn't have much of a plot, if any. There are some cult classics that manage to pull this off but I don't think this has enough substance to be considered a classic. It's funny at times, it did make me laugh, which is something, although I don't really know a lot of the references as the films referenced are not really my bag. Sone of it is also shot in Derby, where I work, the plot could have made more of a play on that, like maybe he had to come to Derby to get acting work. There are a few cameos from well-known stars like Dean Cain, Vinnie Jones, Terri Hatcher, even Stan Lee and Danny Trejo steals the show in a bit of a departure from his normal roles but it feels like they could have got more from all that acting talent. Ultimately it feels like a good idea not fully realised.