Wheels of Fortune

And more of a future too, for all the actors and the director. No Robert Pattison, (Thank God) and it was nice that all the dirt discombobulated in the right directions. Seriously looking forward to the next effort from this gang. Did I mention the cohesion.

If anything, Wheels of Fortune lands in the stupid funny category that also shelters Talladega Nights, Hot Rod, Jackass and Joe Dirt. By no means would it ever be a masterpiece but it's the kind of thing you put on when you're either stoned/hungover or really, really bored and don't want to focus on anything substantial. Personally, I had a different reason but still.

Bo Jackson is a Tennessee-born and bred loser. Ever since he gave up his chance at winning a race as a kid, everything for him is a loss. As an adult, Bo and his best friend, known only as Noodle, are mechanics for a jerkass racer. But, unbeknownst to the duo, the very wealthy Phineus Davis has died and his will reveals that he has an illegitimate son. You guessed it, it's Bo. And so his unbearably mean-spirited daughter Chrissy, clueless son Oswald and their lawyer Jason are off to find Bo, whose inheritance relies solely on winning a series of sporting events.

It hits every cliche note in the head but the chemistry between the protagonists, as well as some committed performances from its C-list cast. Matt Jones seems like he and Danny McBride should do a movie together. Jeff Fahey is one of the film's few saving graces. Of course, the female character with the most screentime, Bo's crush and Noodle's stepmother (it makes as little sense as the movie overall does) Mandy, is possibly the best of the leads. I watched it once to find myself among the extras. I did (look for the guy who reacts to Bo crashing a moped) and I don't need to watch it again.

It was a funny story with fun loveable characters. It's absolutely ridiculous, but I loved every moment. I couldn't stop laughing.

Yes, it's dumb. It's supposed to be. I really don't think they were going for groundbreaking esoteric cinematic masterpiece. It's just dumb and funny. Movies are made so that people who are capable of suspending disbelief can be immersed in a story without needing to read it. This is not art. It's just silly. And yeah, it feels like 1:46 of Lucas Oil Ads, but there's a pretty funny little cameo in there if you watch for it. The bloopers during the credits are worth watching and everybody played their parts well.

Decent watch at best, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend people that watch this unless they're just into racing and have run out of movies to watch involving racing.

I have such mixed feelings about this movie. I honestly want to like it, having a sweet bundle of reconnection stories at its core, just presented in such an awful manner. I'm not saying that the "southern, poor, redneck" angle was a bad choice, but it could have been done in a more positive light. Having it be an idiot-redneck comedy was more painful than funny when it came down to it.

The cast was actually pretty well selected, everyone hitting their marks, but I'm still not over Noureen DeWulf not being Jasmine, and to she her and the rest of the cast in such narrow roles, odd roles just felt very forced. Enough so that the movie brings it to your attention as part of the intended humor, but it is more distracting: making me think more about the movie when I was actually trying to turn my brain off and enough the movie.

The story, the cast, the production, the general comedy are all fine, but for whatever reason, most of it just doesn't land.