The Jerky Boys

"The Jerky Boys" is mostly an excuse to be silly. The plot is that slackers Johnny and Kamal spend their lives making prank phone calls and inadvertently call a mob boss (Alan Arkin), pretending to be another mafioso, thereby starting a wacky chain of events. I actually thought that the best parts were the pranks. Still, the flick's an overall fun romp. Far from the funniest movie ever, but OK for a viewing. As it was, I saw this movie right after I first learned of Alan Arkin by seeing "Catch-22", so this was a real surprise. And now he's won an Oscar!

Anyway, pretty funny. Also starring William Hickey (the mob boss in "Prizzi's Honor" and the patriarch in "Mouse Hunt").

This was bottom of the barrel cinema when it came out. Its not anything you should really have high expectations for when you start into it. That being said, compared to the bottom of the comedy barrel these days this movie is a worthwhile and entertaining entry.

The supporting cast actually isn't too bad. Other reviewers have questioned the appearance of Alan Arkin in this film, and maybe it is weird, but whatever he's in it. So is Vincent Pastore ("Big Pussy" Bonpensiero from "The Sopranos") and cameos from Tom Jones and Ozzy Osbourne (a particularly rare depiction of him when he still had some vital essence left and decked out in appropriate mid-90's high fashion.)

Speaking of the the mid-90's, there's a lot of great footage of New York City in the years right before Giulianni started cleaning the place up.

Anyways, the movie is funny. Its not the funniest movie ever, but the ad hominem attacks, creative profanity, and silly voices will make you laugh. Its nice to see their skits made into live action, even though the real genius of their humor on their tapes was that the calls were real and the calls in the movie are scripted.

Its a solid B-grade comedy. If you're expecting more, you have the wrong idea.

Firstly I'm a huge 'Jerky Boy's' fan and their hilarious recordings (both on tape and CD), are historical; featuring the finest ever phone pranks. A film like this can never work because all of the once spontaneous jokes are staged, thus loses the whole point. The story is pretty weak to but on the plus side you do get to see them in person and contains some truly brilliant bands on the soundtrack ('Superchunk', 'House of Pain' and 'Helmet' etc). Also with the great acting talents of Alan Arkin but still falling way short of the real thing.

Johnny Brennan and Kamal play themselves as a pair of prank callers who find themselves crossing wires with the mob. This is not one of the greatest films of 1995, but not very bad. More than half the pranks are based on their popular albums. If you're a true fan of "The Jerky Boys," you might enjoy this film. Personally, I like the albums better. Later, tough guy! My evaluation: ** out of ****.

Yeah, this is a moronic movie. For those who haven't heard the boys' prank calls (which I find funny, and even sometimes clever), their jokes will fall pretty flat. They just don't work on-screen. And for those of us who HAVE heard their old stuff, the movie serves as a rehash and seems "old hat." The only reason I rented this was to get a look at the faces behind the voices--doesn't Johnny B. look like a chubby Sean Astin with a mullet-like hairdo? Stick to their audio-only work.