Duct Tape Forever

This is a Canadian movie. Canadians will understand this comment, no other nationality will. They're striving for Third Prize in the duct tape contest because Third prize absolutely suits their needs. This has been the canadian credo in countless Olympics and other international convocations. The script is banal because, well, ever seen the Red Green Show?...comedy thrives on the banal. While the TV show is often hilarious, the movie is kind of in the Bob and Ray tradition: "If this gets any funnier I might actually laugh out loud." As Canadians we don't understand why other countries find our humour funny. But, witness SCTV; the overwhelming Canadian content of Saturday Night Live, plus the fact that there is not a single sitcom without a Canadian star or Writer and you see what I mean. This is a Canadian movie.

More often than not..... Excuse me, MUCH more often than not, a TV show that has been turned into a movie is a complete failure, Red Green had an even larger challenge because the show had so many daily segments that couldn't be thrown into the movie (e.g. Handyman's corner) however he uses his genius to throw in the same concepts into the movie. It was pretty nice on plot and hilarious. Been a while since I laughed that hard at a movie.

The one thing this movie fails to do at no fault of its own or anybody elses is appeal as greatly to the non-watching audience (of the TV series), and had it tried to be more sucessful in that aspect the entire movie would have failed in every way. Sure there was some lost potential revenue, however the Red Green fans should have loved it.

If you watch the show, you cannot hate this movie. Many TV shows that become movies SUCK, sometimes this ruins the show too cough...cough...Power Rangers...Cough... Excuse me there. LMAO.

It was good because Red Green stayed in character for the movie and didn't make a new personality for the movie. Same goes for the rest of Possum Lodge.

When I saw this movie, I had actually only seen the show twice. I joined a group of friends who told me that Steve "Red Green" Smith would be there at the theater to personally introduce the movie. So there I went... Even walked away with an autographed roll of duct tape.

Going into the movie, I didn't really know what to expect. The Red Green Show, while ingenious in its own way, would need the potential for some serious story expansion for the film to succeed. As Steve put it, "Decide how you feel about this movie before you see it."

This bit of comic relief not withstanding, this film was a very enjoyable buddy-picture. The plot is fairly standard fare, with the wealthy, megalomaniacal nemesis with 'mommy' issues who's looking to remove the lodge to develop the land, and the residents of said lodge making a last-ditch move to save it.

Harold... Was quite annoying. And in that aspect, the actor is no doubt quite talented. If you don't like the antics of an Urkel-type... Bring some earplugs.

Lots of good fun, if you don't need all-too serious of a plot. Now where's that duct tape...

I was not familiar with "The Red Green Show", a long-running Canadian TV series, right when it started out in 1991, since I was only around five years old at the time, but became familiar with it a few years later, and watched it quite a bit for a while. However, I'm sure I haven't seen the vast majority of the episodes, and I didn't know about this movie based on the show until a few years after its release. I have finally watched it after six years, and since I hadn't seen any episodes of the show in a while, I wasn't sure what I would currently think of the Red Green humour. Also, looking at its rating here, I wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised!

Robert Stiles is a big-shot executive who comes to Possum Lodge in his limousine, but when he arrives on the property, his vehicle gets stuck in a sinkhole! With some effort, the lodge members manage to get the limo out of that hole, but it goes right from there into the lake! Stiles sues Possum Lodge for the damage, and the members are found guilty by the judge! They will have to pay $10,000 within the next ten days, or else the lodge will be shut down! The lodge members then think of ways they could make that much money, and Red Green's nephew, Harold, informs the others about a duct tape sculpture contest taking place in the United States, where whoever comes in third will win the exact amount of money they need! After the lodge members are finished making a duct tape goose sculpture, Red, Harold, and Dalton Humphrey set out with it. However, Stiles is determined to have Possum Lodge shut down, and he has Sheriff Tompkins and Deputy Dawn on his side! So, on the way to the contest, the Sheriff and Deputy will make the trip more difficult, as they try to stop them from making it in time!

"The Red Green Show" is partially sketch comedy and partially a sitcom, and I wondered how turning the formula from that to a full-length story would work out. Movies based on TV shows sometimes don't work out too well, and I wouldn't have been surprised if "Duct Tape Forever" turned out to be an example of that. Fortunately, it didn't. The characters may not be able to carry the humour consistently throughout, but they usually do, and it's usually quite amusing, sometimes even hilarious! The main characters here are usually a big part of the humour, especially Harold with his usual goofy antics. The film also features a lot of slapstick to add laughs, and the bizarre things the characters from Possum Lodge on the road do to try and outsmart their enemies are sometimes very funny! Personally, I found that the film gets better after a while, eventually goes downhill a bit a while after that, but then picks up again.

Some may think "Duct Tape Forever" was a poor attempt to bring the characters from "The Red Green Show" to the movie format, but if you ask me, it worked, and this 2002 Canadian comedy is underrated. Yes, it is pretty silly, maybe more so than the show, but it's silly in a fun way. The premise may not be the greatest ever written, but this is a comedy, and there are plenty of laughs make up for it. The next thing I will say may not mean anything to most people, but for me it was interesting hearing Harold talk about James Bond, just after I watched a bunch of early Bond films! Anyway, if you're not a "Red Green Show" fan, then I doubt there's anything for you in this movie, but if you are a fan, you may still find "Duct Tape Forever" inferior, and that it doesn't work as well as a movie, but I can't see why you wouldn't find any amusement in it at all.

I should admit that I wasn't that much of a fan of the Red Green Show before I saw the movie, but now I watch the show a lot. Steve Smith is one of Canada's classics, along with pretty much all the actors which were ever on the show or movie. I was a bit disappointed that Rick Green wasn't in it as Bill, but that didn't keep me from enjoying the movie. There was not anything that I remember feeling disappointed or unsatisfied about, and I agree that it is a must for fans of Red Green, but those who don't 'get' the humour of the Red Green Show probably won't enjoy it- in which case I should give some healthy advice: Lighten Up! And one last thing I learned from this film: never leave your keys in the ignition when you step outside of your car.