A Futile and Stupid Gesture

After looking up Douglas Kenney (quote: Though almost completely unknown, this man was one of the originators of a highly popular and groundbreaking new form of comedy and satire) and reading his full biography I admit I never heard of him before, even though I watched Animal House and Caddyshack, like everybody else probably. It's an interesting story to watch, a bit sad but told in a funny way, probably just like he would have wanted it. It's just too bad there wasn't a small part for the real comedians from those movies, that would have been a nice addition. But watching Will Forte is always funny. Since the series The Last Man On Earth I'm a big fan of him. The cast was just very good for this movie, mostly comedians better known from comedy series, but none of them has to prove anything anymore as they are all funny. The movie is well shot, never a dull moment, and it's a story that is worth to be told. National Lampoon is a name everybody knows or has heard of, and this movie is a nice hommage to one of the co-founders, maybe a bit excentric, certainly not a fully happy man, but with a fascinating life.

POILER: I really enjoyed this film. I have watched several of the documentaries concerning Animal House and Caddyshack and Doug Kenney's name comes up quite often amongst the cast and crew. Chevy Chase and he were really close and Chevy still feels some guilt over leaving Hawaii right before Kenney's death. The man was apparently a comic genius who couldn't escape his childhood baggage.

The format is well played with Will Forte as the young Doug and Martin Mull as kind of older, alternate universe Doug, if Kenney had lived, narrating the film. The rest of the cast is well known, playing unknown actors and writers. It took me a second to recognize Natasha Lyonne (American Pie) as Anne Beatts, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911) as Micheal O'Donoghue, and Joel McHale (Community) as Chevy Chase. All of them are covered in 70s hairstyles and McHale does a really good job of mimicking Chase's speech patterns and even his trademark pratfalls.

The film excels in showing how Kenney rose from a malcontent to a Harvard grad to a fledgling magazine editor to movie writer. Forte is especially compelling and funny as Kenney. He doesn't quite have the acting range to pull off the downward spiral of the person, but he does an excellent job with the jokes and the other aspects of Kenney's life. Where the film fails is trying to shoehorn too many characters into its 100 minute run time. There is even a humorous scene of older Kenney (Mull) explaining to a bunch of supporting characters that there wasn't enough screen time for all of them so they get ignored. But the film goes to great pains to cram in other famous people such as Gilda Radner, Christopher Guess (Seth Green), Bill Murray, and John Belushi. The actors playing Murray and Belushi came off as actors lampooning (no pun intended) the famous comedians. Belushi was such a huge personality, I doubt anyone could portray him properly in such a short cameo.

Another special mention goes out to Emmy Rossum. She is a stunning screen presence and even though her appearance is short, as Kenney's last girlfriend, she lights up the screen. She is a gorgeous actress as well.

There is also a fun nod to Animal House with Mark Metcalf (Neidermeyer) portraying a publisher.

The movie moves fast through the various periods of Kenney's life, but I think he would have enjoyed it. He comes off as funny, yet troubled, a brilliant comedian, but an emotionally stinted adult. A Futile and Stupid Gesture is anything but. The only thing I would have added, is maybe some post interviews with the actual people portrayed in the movie who knew Kenney, even if they were archival for some (Belushi and Ramis). Still, this was a well-done film.

This is a good movie. It's a story well told but it's certainly one sided. For one thing it ignores the fact that National Lampoon wasn't very funny. It is also a bit of a hatchet job on the parents and P J O'Rourke, whose least credit, as probably the funniest American print writer of the 20th century, is editor of NL.

Worth watching though.

Rarely do movies make me laugh out loud anymore. This movie not only made me do it repeatedly, but had me laughing hours later remembering some of the bits. Extremely clever, well told story of a brilliantly hilarious guy who I, and I would guess most of my generation (I'm 31), am not familiar with. This was truly a 10/10 and I hope Netflix makes more like it down the road.

David Wain tells a true story in a creative way, creating the kind of the film his subject would have written, although a little sadder. Every actor does a superb job, Will Forte hits the perfect melancholic note. Dom Gleeson as usual is excellent. This is a wonderful tribute to Doug.