Hot Rod

If you're looking for THE ground-breaking cinematic achievement this summer, look no further than this hidden gem. This movie is chalk full of cool beans! It is destined to have a long life as a cult-classic. Sissy Spacek plays an extremely strong woman with unending patience and the emotional strength of Hercules. Don't be surprised if she garners a lot of support come Oscar time.

Our hero is surrounded by a devoted team of friends that double as his stunt crew. In the spirit of Evel Knievel, each stunt is meticulously worked on until perfected. The characters are well developed and the writers and directors go to great lengths to demonstrate the difficulty in being raised by a step-father and winning his respect, especially when your younger, half-brother is of his blood line. The dramatic tension at times got so thick, I constricted into the fetal position and caught fleeting glimpses between my fingers covering my face.

When discussion of great directors comes up, the names like Scorcese, Coppola, and Spielberg are bandied about. Well, it is time add the name Akiva Shaffer to the pantheon of Hollywood Heavyweights. The plot twists keep you guessing, until an ending that I just didn't see coming.

Let me be the first to congratulate Andy Samberg for his ascension to SuperStardom. He is officially a MegaStar.

Honestly, this movie is Napolean dynamite on steroids. My eight-year-old son, my wife, and I loved it. And, I'm not as think as you dumb I am.

This film screened in Minneapolis last night (at which they also distributed free T-shirts, pins and fake mustaches) and I have not laughed this hard in a very long time. I laughed so hard it made my stomach hurt, and that hasn't happened to me in a movie in years.

It reminded me very much of Will Ferrell's "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights," but even moreso it seems like a throwback to the kind of movies Adam Sandler used to make. There's a lot of "Billy Madison"-inspired randomness and absurdity that just cracked me up, and the stunts look truly dangerous.

I will not say anymore about this film except I can't wait to see it again when it opens August 3rd and I think Andy Samberg could explode after this film. Not literally, let's hope.

Our family consists of a fiftyish dad, a fortyish mom and two teenaged daughters. We all saw this movie during a sneak preview just before it opened, and I (the mom) laughed so hard I could barely breathe sometimes. I had to stop laughing so I could hear what I was missing. One of my daughters said it was a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Talladega Nights...maybe. It was completely improbable, I mean, who's going to be doing stunts on a moped? But it was so sweet. The characters never over reached who they were or tried too hard. It never felt forced, like so many movies like this do. The best part was when Rod went to his "Quiet Place". I saw one summary that said it would have been better with Will Ferrell...I've enjoyed everything Will Ferrell has done lately, but Andy Samberg was perfect for this movie. The ending was pretty predictable, but it was like taking a trip...you knew where you'd end up, but it was so much fun along the way. We definitely loved this movie and recommend it to all our friends (and you!)

Its been a while that i have come across a comedy movie as light hearted as this one.I think this movie caters to all genres of audience and the best part is that you don't have to drag the movie storyline home and ponder over it.Its got a feel-good attitude to it and has got a simple storyline. I recommend this movie to one and all.. A great release of 2007 !!! The directors done a good job and so have the actors.. haven't heard of them before but if its their debut, then well done ! The soundtrack is a mix of techno and 80s music which again adds a brilliant touch to the movie and they are very situational, which does not happen in most of the comedy movies..

I watched Hot Rod for the same reasons i've watched any of the generic American comedies that Hollywood seems to churn out. Because i had nothing better to do, i didn't want to have to think and i expected to be very mildly amused. I was very pleasantly surprised when Hot Rod turned out to have a bit of heart. This movie seems to occupy a middle point between the fairly predictable but fun Blades of Glory and the rather more charming and oddball Napoleon Dynamite. Most recent American comedies seem to function like early Tom Cruise films : Take a vocation and run with it. Blades of Glory had the fairly ridiculous world of figure skating to draw from, and i guess you can't really go wrong with a grown man in lycra on ice skates, but it's humour relied heavily on that. Hot Rod is a film about a (pretty terrible) young stuntman who's objective is to raise enough money to save his dying step-dad by means of a life saving operation. His underlying reason for doing so, however, is because he wants to earn his respect by beating him in a fight. This little quirk and more are what make Hot Rod a little more satisfying than other films in its genre, and, despite some rather obvious jokes and a criminally underused Will Arnett, it's well worth watching.