The Jerky Boys

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.

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.

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.

The Jerky Boys are a famous comedy duo known for making prank calls which have been recorded and released on albums. I knew about them by the time I first came across a copy of this film for rent at a video store recently, but didn't know they had their own movie until then. Released in 1995, long before I was old enough to watch R-rated movies, "The Jerky Boys" is a comedy starring the two prank callers, John G. Brennan and Kamal Ahmed. By the time I watched this, I had heard many of their recorded prank calls (it seems they were falsely credited for several of the ones I heard, but most of them really were from the duo), and thought they were generally funny, but since I was aware of this film's lack of popularity, I wasn't surprised by its overall mediocrity.

Johnny B. and Kamal are two "lowlifes from Queens" who have been making prank telephone calls since they were kids. John's mother warned the two of them what they would be like when they grew up if they didn't change their ways, and sure enough, they have since grown up and turned out to be exactly what she predicted, two unemployed idiots still living at home. Making prank calls is still a major hobby of theirs, and they've had certain jobs in the past, but due to their stupidity and incompetence, they didn't have them for long. Unfortunately for Johnny and Kamal, their prank calling gets them into serious trouble when they call the local mafia and Johnny pretends to be a crime boss from Chicago named Frank Rizzo, and the two of them then pose as two of Rizzo's hoodlums when they go to meet members of the Queens mob in person! They soon find that not only are the local mafia after them, so are the police!

Shortly after I began to watch this 1995 flop, I did find myself laughing or at least smiling at times, but not enough to make me think it was a actually a good comedy, and I didn't care for the part with Johnny and Kamal (as kids) watching a boy getting in trouble with his mother after they prank called her, and what the mother says she'll do to her son when they get inside. None of the gags in this movie are among the most revolting I've ever seen, but one fairly lame scene is the one with hot dogs made from human bodies! Most of the film is basically just mediocre, unfunny, and boring. The plot also isn't that interesting, with the two pranksters getting into more and more trouble. I certainly did laugh at times, such as the drive-thru scene and the part where the main characters (the Jerky Boys playing themselves) steal a cab and Kamal poses as the cab driver. These laughs definitely weren't always just small ones, either. Still, for the vast majority of the film, I kept a straight face, and cannot give it a high rating.

This silly comedy was apparently panned by critics and seems to be fairly obscure, but it seems that some Jerky Boys fans like it. However, it also appears many of those who have seen it think it's atrocious, and I'm sure a number of the duo's fans have been disappointed by this movie of theirs. As someone who has never listened to any of their albums from start to finish but has heard enough of their recorded pranks individually to be convinced that they know how to be funny, I sure would have been disappointed if I had expected this film to be as good. Apart from occasional funny moments (some very funny and some mildly amusing) and a cameo appearance from Ozzy Osbourne as the Band Manager, there was hardly anything in 1995's "The Jerky Boys" (a.k.a. "The Jerky Boys: The Movie") that appealed to me. If you're not a Jerky Boys fan at all, I suggest you skip this film, and if you are a fan, I can't imagine how you could watch this without finding anything in it funny at all (though you never know), but don't be surprised if you find that it doesn't live up to the duo's audio recordings.

This movie will go down in history as an all time classic. I place it in the realms of Cheech and Chong and the Blues Brothers. Not many Guys could pull off making crank calls into a Big-screen comedy. Fast paced action and wacky impressions make this movie a winner. Even though it was a box office flop I bet video rentals more than made up for poor ticket sales. This is a stay home, 12 pack type of flick.