A Futile and Stupid Gesture

A Futile and Stupid Gesture is about the creation of the National Lampoon brand and its creator Doug Kenney. This film follows Doug through his extraordinary heights and lows of his life in the comedy business.

This film is directed by David Wain (Role Models), Wrote by Michael Colton and John Aboud (Penguins of Madagascar). It stars Will Forte (Nebraska) as Doug Kenney, Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina) and Martin Mull (Clue) as The Narrator. Along with a great line up of stellar comedians.

What I liked about this film was it's direction and in my opinion pitch perfect interpretations of famous actors and directors. I really enjoyed Joel McHale as Chevy Chase and Will Forte as Doug Kenney. Most of the jokes are funny as well especially the ones featuring famous scenes in films and how they came about. My favorite scene would have to be the ending though which for someone who didn't know the story actually had me tearing up a bit.

But some of the jokes do not hit for me, along with a dive in quality in the middle of the film which makes it last forever. means that it certainly isn't comic genius.

However I do like this film and think you should watch it. Its a bit rough around the edges but it means well and for fans of National Lampoon films, this fil is defiantly for you.

7/10

'A FUTILE AND STUPID GESTURE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A comedy biopic about writer Doug Kenney, who was the main contributor to the success of National Lampoon in the 1970s and 80s. The film stars Will Forte as Kenney, and it was directed by David Wain (who also helmed 'WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER', and several episodes of the TV series based on it). It costars Domhnall Gleeson, Martin Mull, Emmy Rossum, Matt Walsh, Joel McHale, and many others (in cameos as famous comedians). The movie was scripted by John Aboud and Michael Colton, and it's based on the book (of the same name) by Josh Karp. The film was released by Netflix through it's streaming site, and it's gotten mixed to positive reviews from critics. I found it to be both educational and funny, but it's also a little too dark and unbalanced.

The film is narrated by Doug Kenney, supposedly in modern day (Mull). He tells his life story, starting when he was in his twenties (Forte); when he and his best friend Henry Beard (Gleeson) decided to create the magazine National Lampoon. It of course became a huge success, and blockbuster movies followed (like 'ANIMAL HOUSE' and 'CADDYSHACK'). Kenney could never be content, or happy, still though.

I knew nothing about Doug Kenney previous to seeing this movie, but I love his work. So I was absolutely fascinated by this film, and I of course found it to be very educational. I also loved seeing all of these other actors portraying other famous actors (like Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and John Belushi). I also just really enjoyed seeing how these classic comedy films, and that famous comedy magazine, came to life. Forte is great in the lead too, and the supporting cast is all more than adequate. The film, as funny and interesting as it often is, is still really dark and depressing though. It left me with mixed feelings about how I really felt about it as a whole. It's also got a strong TV feel to it, which kind of cheapens what should have been a theatrical film feel (the story deserved a theatrical presentation at least).

David Wain tells a true story in a creative way, creating the kind of the film his subject would have written, although a little sadder. Every actor does a superb job, Will Forte hits the perfect melancholic note. Dom Gleeson as usual is excellent. This is a wonderful tribute to Doug.

Just after watching the documentary "Drunk Stoned Stupid Dead" I discovered that there was also a TV movie covering the same period, focused on co-founder Doug Kenney. So I had to watch that, even though the reviewers were middling.

I don't understand those middling reviews, because I thought this was tremendously entertaining. It's basically a movie about very witty people saying funny things, held together by the protagonist's downward spiral. It is less reverential than the documentary, which tiptoed around the whole priveleged-white-male thing, and it does it's best to mock itself, as when a scroll points out all the discrepancies between the movie and the real story.

The movie does at times rely too heavily on its narrative devices, sometimes falling into a gimmicky cutesiness, and the ending feels like a flailing attempt to pull things together, but overall this is funny and very well acted. My advice: ignore the critics, watch the movie.

Rarely do movies make me laugh out loud anymore. This movie not only made me do it repeatedly, but had me laughing hours later remembering some of the bits. Extremely clever, well told story of a brilliantly hilarious guy who I, and I would guess most of my generation (I'm 31), am not familiar with. This was truly a 10/10 and I hope Netflix makes more like it down the road.