To Kill a Mockumentary

Over the years, there have been many mockumentaries. A few, such as "This is Spinal Tap" and "Best in Show" became crowd favorites. A few, though successful, were minor successes, like "The Making of...And God Spoke". And then, there are a few which are not particularly great but have good moments, such as "To Kill a Mockumentary"...a highly uneven but occasionally funny film.

The story is about a nutty filmmaker and his cast of losers and weirdos. He's making a film but instead of having a finished script and established characters, he asks his actors to help him create a movie script! The problem is most of these folks are talentless idiots.

The only consistently funny person in the movie is Mickey Rooney, who makes periodic comments about what a horrible filmmaker the guy who is making this movie is. Apart from that, many of the others are interesting at times...but also often are too much...too one-dimensional. Overall, not a bad film but one that could have been done better.

I recently picked up the directors other movie, A Christmas Too Many and just loved it to death. So i ordered this one online and I loved both films so much I just had to write a review about them. The story is about a group of mockumentary makers who are given a chance to do their first studio Mockumentary. It stars about a dozen name actors who you'll recognize instantly and is really the first mockumentary I've seen where you'll laugh hysterically. The lad who plays the director, a guy named Terry Scannell is tremendous as Hank. He is a revelation on screen. I can't say enough about him and the chemistry between Tim Thomerson who plays Will and Edie McClurg who plays Estelle. There's so much good to say that i don't know where to start. The writing is fantastic. It really fits that Australian sensibility that I have personally. I hope that this group of people can continue to make films. I for one, will be watching and hoping for them and hope their next movie is as good as this one.

To Kill a Mockumentary is one of those few prized gems that you sometimes find if you look hard. Splendid writing highlights some very funny if not hilarious turns by people Like Mickey Rooney, Charlie O'Connell, Jason London and Terry Scannell. Watched it twice and realized just how smart it was. Much smarter than you think on first glance, it's pretty much one of the funnier movies I've seen in a while. Fat chick wasn't always funny but the rest of the cast is exceptional. I would recommend this to anyone that likes their comedy fast, funny and smart. Look for the great chemistry from Edie McClurg and Tim Thomerson. They should get a sitcom together. They're hysterical.