Go West

Go West is an Indie Comedy about the Oregon trail. It's wacky, fun and always entertaining.

Don't go into this expecting a story and you'll get more out of it. The main characters have excellent delivery and lines though some of the side characters fall short. The actors play multiple roles, the most consistent actors are Whitney, Mallory, Steven, Natalie and Matt. A few segments just aren't funny and serve no purpose but these are short thanks to the fast pacing.

Despite its shortcomings the movie is hilarious most of its runtime and the rapid delivery assists when some jokes don't work. The cast is charming and clearly tons of love was poured into the movie.

As is the case with any feature film based upon and written by a sketch-comedy property, Go West is a mixed bag of material.

Some of the scenes really fell flat with repetitive "jokes" that were devoid of any sort of structure that could be construed as comedy.

But the infectious personalities of the cast and the blend of dry delivery and absurd style of humor really worked for me more often than it didn't. The film's finale also had plenty of cleverly-inserted payoffs to jokes that were set up earlier in the film.

These types of movies usually have a few bright spots amidst a total mess, but for me this had some really messy spots amidst a mostly admirable effort from a small studio.

I'm a big fan of the original cast of Studio C for their light-hearted humor in sketch comedy. This movie is a longer version of a sketch comedy with many jokes- some hits, some misses- that decently highlight the humor style of each of the cast members. You can see hints/characteristics of old Studio C characters throughout the movie. If you are already a fan of the cast and are familiar with their style of humor, I think you will enjoy a decent portion of this film. But if not, maybe try some of their old Studio C videos to see if you like this type of humor first.

My favorite characters in this movie are played by Jason and Whitney as usual.

Some funny stuff, but jokes about bodily functions play way too much of a role in the move (usually bowel movements and farting).

It was kind of a feminist movie (i.e., it likes to man-bash and cry about the oppression of women).

It's basically a compilation of skits thrown together to form a story, and, while some are humorous, many of the skits lack a solid punchline (they just kind of just fizzle out).

Lastly, I am not sure what is included in the content advisory for this film, but there are some aspects of this movie that some audience members will not appreciate. Specifically, the film treats making a deal with the devil as a silly, no-big-deal sort of thing; there is a surprising amount of blood (especially in the blood coughs); and there is a torture scene (that is played for fun but does involve real torture methods).

I love the "old Studio C" cast, or JK studios as they are now called. I started watching their content back in 2014, and have been a big fan ever since. From old YouTube videos of Divine Comedy, to Studio C, and finally JK Studios, I have enjoyed their creative talent, friendship, and passion for brightening people's lives with their humor. I was very excited when I heard they were making a movie.

Now I have to be honest with you, I did not enjoy the film as much as I wanted to. I thought the humor was okay, and good at times, but not great. I thought Matt's characters failed to capture the range he has. I would have also liked to see more from Adam, who was hardly in this movie.

It felt like multiple sketches loosely woven together. The overall plot or story just didn't hold that much tension (if that's the right word). It had some good sketches (although not all were great) but lacked overall cohesion besides having reoccurring characters. The attempt was there, but it just was missing something.

The humor was good (sometimes a bit on the gross side) but I think it lacked variety, or maybe they could have developed some stronger jokes that felt natural with the story/plot of the film. Not all of the jokes were bad, but they averaged on ok to good, when I was hoping for more.

If you guys are reading this, I hope you don't take this personally. I don't want to discount the effort you put into this project. Even though I think this wasn't your best work, I sincerely hope you continue making movies, sketch comedy, T-Shirts, whatever, I'm here for it. You have made a great impact in so many people's lives, including mine. I am so grateful that you put yourselves out there again and again. Looking forward to your next big project.