Jusqu'au cou

Without a Paddle was a good movie if you're looking for nothing more than a laugh. Going to see this movie will pretty much guarantee a night well spent and a good time out. Although, this movie is pretty cheesy. The plot is cheesy. The laughs are cheesy. But, luckily it has some genuinely funny moments too to bring the movie through to its end. The acting is mediocre at best, but great acting isn't necessarily needed for a movie of this kind.

Nobody expected it to be an Oscar winner. Also, this movie doesn't need to get its laughs from raunchy moments and attempts at teenager humour like some other "road trip" movies. Overall, this movie is pretty good for its kind and would be a good date film or a good movie to see with friends.

"Where are we?", Seth Green asks, clueless, as the guys are standing in a street in a nondescript little Oregon village. "Corner of Bumfuck and You Got a Purty Mouth", Matthew Lillard snarls in way of answer.

Now, you need to know and appreciate John Boorman's thriller classic 'Deliverance' in order to get the full implications of this scene and countless others in 'Without a Paddle'. The film can be enjoyed by all & sundry, but those in the know will be rolling with laughter more often.

'Without a Paddle' establishes itself in a niche of its own among goofy modern comedies. It is really well written, not just the one-liners, but also the situations as such and the exposition and development of material. The actors all shine, especially young Dax Shepard as the loser type of the three buddies in their late 20s that go camping and looking for a buried treasure in a canoe up Spirit River. There they meet up with wild man Burt Reynolds, who was acclaimed for his performance in the original 'Deliverance', actually the character that Shepard inherited in this 'remake'.

There are no actual thrills in 'Without a Paddle' (unlike 'Deliverance'!!!), it sets its sight on glorious comedy. The huge surprise is that the gags are relatively 'tasteful', for want of a better word. It is not ALL about tits, dicks and feces.

Recommended. Absolutely.

To be honest, I was expecting a bit of a disaster with this movie but it turned out to be far better than I thought. Sure! It's no classic, has its flaws but it just refuses to take itself seriously. The three leads are very strong - Seth Green just edging it cos hes just adorable in this! Some very, VERY funny moments in this, maybe a little too many moments where the films tries to over emphasise some messages but that will be clear when you've seen the film. Also a total "where have I seen you before" moment with the girl from Clueless! However, I fully recommend you give this film a try, you won't be disappointed! 8/10 for comedy with a heart!

What sounds like your average, everyday sort of male bonding roadtrip film is essentially...well, just that, in fact. Three childhood friends (Seth Green, Matthew Lilard, Dax Sheppard) reunite at a friend's funeral, and go off on a camping trip downstream to try and find the lost treasure they always dreamed of finding in their youth in his honour. They promptly and predictably fall into all sorts of mishaps in the wild and really give a bad reputation to man's survival ethic.

This kind of comedy is always somewhat stifled when a life lesson is included: in the case of Without a paddle the message is 'Appreciate the life you have...you never know how long it will last'. Unfortunately, we go to a film like this to be entertained, not for morals, and its inclusion merely deters from the fun.

The three leads are what make the film decently funny: Seth Green is excellent as he begrudgingly reveals his various phobias from everything from the dark to ceran wrap. ('I'm afraid it might get stuck over my head, it's very sticky) Matthew Lilard puts his wide range of comic facial expressions to good use, and Dax Shepard is always a source of laughs as the tough-guy slacker of the group.

The comedic material is mostly original stuff, but there's nothing outstanding to be seen, apart from a few memorable moments. (one finds Dax Shepard riding his motorcycle into the graveyard at the burial of his friend, and bellowing out to the funeral attendees 'Where did you guys park?') The inclusion of Burt Reynolds' crazy mountain man is a comedic plus, but the nature loving hippy-girls and uncouth drug traffickers which pop up periodically aren't as funny as they should be. In fact, such can be said for the entire movie.

The odd laugh will definitely turn up, but there are many better comedies around, so unless you're simply up for an evening of mostly forgettable fun, you might want to leave Without a Paddle wallowing in the shallows.

6.5/10

This PG 13 comedy has been greatly maligned by some big time critics, the New York Times and other's. I think the main irritation is the homosexual eroticism, a joke if you will about Deliverance style banjo boys and close quarter survival in the nude. Some may be offended, sensitive gay's, little old Grandmothers, and redneck tobacco sputters. I assure you; however, this is a funny movie. City Slickers 1 and 2 covered this ground once before, but frankly, I liked Without a Paddle more. It's sentimental for all the right reasons. The boys truly love each other and when they become twenty something's, they retain some of their boyish quirks, each with a flaw, the short, picked-on boy grows up to be the short picked on doctor. You get the idea.

The Cascade Mountains both real and simulated is a beautiful green backdrop to the slapstick antics of angry bears and pot growing dummies. The tree girls are a breakdown and laugh idea. Their defense of a tree is brown bag humor, but gee, that hits a visceral laugh note in even the stuffiest fool.