News Movie

It was made in 2004 ... but apparently was released in 2008. Not sure what is up with that. What bothers me is I don't think it could be made today, and that is a worrisome commentary on the trajectory of our culture. In order to cater to extremists, we have basically outlawed comedy in the USA. But for one brief shining moment we could make movies like Blazing Saddles, Animal House and Tropic Thunder. Alas, we are now everything we used to correctly hate.

I saw the trailer for The Onion Movie on a DVD recently and I couldn't help but stop laughing, so I knew that I wanted to see this movie. I rented the movie and watched it yesterday and I don't know, I'm just getting mixed feelings about this film. Just it reminded me so much of Kentucky Fried Movie, not to mention that the film at the end, I just felt like it didn't make much sense. But strangely enough, these skits were good enough to where they'd be great on Saturday Night Live or Mad TV, just putting them into a random 80 minute movie threw me off quite a bit. Some things were a little odd, some things were random, some things were unfunny, and some things were just friggin' hilarious. I did love Norm Archer though, he was just so funny and I felt so much for his character when he saw a dancing penguin on the desk, well, you'll see what I mean.

Norm Archer is a news anchor for the Onion News, a very off beat news program that reports on: neck seat belts, Margo Cherry, the virgin sexy singer, stereotypical movie critics, neck belts for cars, geeks, missing good black socks, terrorists, a working armed gunman, and much more, including the new hit movie, well, I don't know if I could say the title, again, something you'll have to see for yourself. But Norm begins to question who he's working for and how strange it is.

The Onion Movie has it's moments, I mean, don't get me wrong, as random as it is, it has some great gags. I loved Margo Cherry, the whole interview, we of course know they're making fun of Britney Spears, only I think it was more blunt. But this was over all a silly clever movie, just how it was put together, it's more of a Saturday Night Live skit vs. an actual movie. But I would recommend this if you need a few laughs, as a movie, it's below average, as for the skits, it makes it more worth your while.

6/10

Very much like _Kentucky Fried Movie_ in construction, with most of the skits presented as news stories or commercials, in a plot about a news station that's been recently taken over by a giant corporation. Some bits are funnier than others, with a few running gags that recur throughout the movie.

Don't expect the most brilliant bits from the paper to be transformed into movie bits - it's closer to one of their good issues being written into a movie, with brilliant bits, so-so bits, and annoying bits.

Sure to offend almost anyone who's looking to be offended, it's just as sure to amuse anyone who's looking to be amused. I've seen far worse entertainment this year.

I am a huge fan of satire sites such as onion.com, daily mash.co.UK and news biscuit.com etc, however the movie never quite succeeds in its level of humour as its website does, granted there are some great laugh out loud moments but there are a few too many sketches that run for a tad too long.

It is unfair to criticize some of the movies sketches as being dated as the movie was produced over 5 years ago then shelved, I'm pretty sure due to fan demand that they decided to release it.

If your a fan of the website be sure to check it out but don't get your hopes up, the viral videos on the website are much better and better paced.

i give this 6 out of 10

The Onion network is famous for the impartial nature of its news coverage as well as the quality of its delivery and journalists. Anchorman Norm Archer in particular prides himself on keeping the standard high and serving Americans the real stories without dumbing down. However when the network is purchased by a new parent company (who have a major new Steven Seagal film to promote) and Archer starts to notice significant slippage in his beloved network.

The name "The Onion" was enough to attract me to this film given that I frequently dip into the satirical newspaper for a few easy chuckles; however even as I was pressing play I wondered how a newspaper can be adapted into a film – maybe a TV show in the mould of "The Day Today" or "The Daily Show" but a film? Well the answer to my wonderings turns out to be "not that well" because The Onion Movie is a mess of hits and misses that works when it hits but rapidly annoys when it is missing. It will depend on sense of humour but it is undeniable that there are misses in a film that is essentially a sketch show with a bit of a plot that satirises the commercial nature of news networks. You can see the intelligence behind it but yet it doesn't really work as well as it should. The fragmented nature of it prevents a flow but this wouldn't matter one bit if the laughs were consistent.

Sadly this doesn't happen. There are some really great moments that had me laughing out loud but there are also plenty of sketches that either just don't work or simply extend the joke for much longer than it can actually sustain or, in the case of the film's ending, both. Fans of this style of humour will just about find enough to make it worth watching but even I (who does) found parts of it to just be poor. The cast are hard to judge in strict acting terms but mostly they work well to support the material, which is what counts. As with his recent Orange cinema adverts, Seagal is better at spoofing his career than he is at making proper films and he is enjoyable (even if this is one joke really over-extended).

I can understand why the Onion Movie sat in release limbo for so long because it never really convinced me that it suited or deserved to be a film. The sketches throw up as many hits as misses – which will suffice for some but was not good enough for me even if it did produce a handful of good laughs. Worth a look for Onion fans but not good enough to tickle a mass audience.