Ham & Cheese

To put this film in perspective you must understand this about Canadian film: stories like this don't get made here. Stories about sex with the dead or badly maimed? Sure. Stories about allegedly charming Maritimers? Definitely. Stories about sex with allegedly charming dead Maritimers? Well, not yet, but just wait. Which is to say that although this country churns out more than its fair share of world-class comedians such as Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Martin Short and the late John Candy, we don't make movies that showcase this talent. So Ham & Cheese gets full marks for attempting something so bold as a mockumentary in a land where government-funded agencies favour creepy. That said, thinking back on some of the scenes in H & C, there's plenty of creepy here. Such as the scenes in which Mike Beaver's character joins a fringe festival acting troupe, which includes a cancer patient, a silent fat guy and the omnisexual leader. Seriously whacked out stuff — having sex with the earth? I would argue Beaver's story and performance, though the guy has that lovable lug thing going, is the weaker of the two, falling back on Waiting for Guffman-like parody. Beaver's choice to play the guy as a Lennyesque retard backfires, the character is more pathetic than funny. On the other hand, Jason Jones should be coming to a American theatre soon. He's that good. His performance seems to fit between old Harry Shearer SNL skits and Steve Carell in Anchorman. There are a few scenes — the one in which he auditions for a mattress ad using an Aussie accent and the one in which he plays an extra on a cop drama — are particularly memorable. They also seem to bring out the best film-making — the director edits them to maximum effect, and finds a happy medium between funny and sad. Kudos also to the filmmakers for paying attention to detail. At the beginning of Mike Beaver's story there is a shot of a poorly punctuated wooden lawn sign that is indicative of the culture of small-city Ontario — The Wolanski's. Perfect. The picture also transcends its genre and has something to say about the acting craft and show business, and what it has to say is ppppmph!

Well, walking into this film at the Victoria Film Festival (one of four films that I got to see) I was expecting something along the lines of a "serious" comedy, versus a slapstick - - - > which is what it inevitably turned out to be.

But not to be taken the wrong way; I actually PREFER slapsticks. BUT, i ALSO figured that this film would be something along the lines of a drama that would be done like any other film, versus a mocumentary.

Immediately when the film began and I discovered it to be a mocumentary, I began comparing it to FUBAR - - - > which stands to be not only the best mocumentary ever made, but the funniest movie I've ever seen. Unfortunately, Ham and Cheese didn't quite reach the great status of FUBAR.....at FIRST anyways.

The bad thing about this mocumentary was the fact that you KNEW it wasn't real at all because the camera work consisted of constantly changing angles and shots that would be impossible to do with any documentary, and the characters only talked to the camera when they were seated and prepared.

Another bad thing about this film was the fact that none of it was improvised (i know this because the director told me so), and its the improvisation that gives mocumentaries their comic-real-life ZING. Films like "A mighty wind" and FUBAR were insanely hilarious because of the realism that was brought into the slapstick, making you nearly wet yourself at the comic genious of it all.

But don't get me wrong, their were DEFINATELY scenes that nearly made me wet myself - - - > scenes that I laughed even harder at by the time i left the theatre.

The actors carried their roles seemlessly from the opening bad-singing sequence to the naked runaway scene. And some of the completely ridiculous stupid lines that were blurted out like, "I dug up the ground, and i F***ED IT!!!" made me fall out of my seat in incredibly loud laughter (you have to watch the entire film to understand that part). But the fact that they TRIED to make it look proffessional was what took away the REALISM that makes mocumentaries so funny.

When the movie finished, I listened to the director and main actor talk about the movie, and I realised the time and budget that they had to deal with the making of the film, which made me realise that all that stuff I was thinking was a little harsh. What they also said was that later on you will probably laugh more when you look back at the scenes of the movie - - - > which is what happened with me. Throughout the entire next day I couldnt help but laugh at all the stupid scenes, and even the ones that I didnt laugh at before made me laugh later on just because it was so STUPID!

At the ending i COULD have bought the DVD and got it signed and then talked to the director and actor, but my grudge that I had about it not being as funny as FUBAR at the time prevented me from doing any of that. Now I look back and highly regret not doing so, because I realise now that it was funny, and probably JUST as funny as FUBAR was.

Oh well, I guess now that if others see the film and enjoy it, i can at LEAST say, "Well guess what, i saw the PREMIERE!". ....to bad no signed DVD for me.....

i give it a 7.8/10

I am ashamed to have to call this movie Canadian. It was a conglomeration of bad script, worse actors, and no humour at all. I only watched it (okay, truthfully I couldn't take it anymore and walked out with still 15 minutes left)because a couple of friends wanted to watch, and because there were a couple of "Kids in the Hall" alumni listed as main actors. By the way, my cohorts didn't find it funny, thought provoking or even mildly entertaining, either. I consider myself a huge fan of B movies (even some "C" movies), but I have never before watched a movie that I walked away from resenting the time wasted that could have been spent....I don't know....ripping my toenails out by the roots and enjoying it more.

The last guy who reviewed this movie hated it so much that I feel that I must speak in defense of the film.

Granted, I may be a little predisposed to liking this movie since I live in Canada and work in the acting profession. I not only seem to be in the prime target demographic of the film, but being an actor in Canada, I also recognized just about every performer in it. (noteables include, as mentioned cameos by Scott Thompson and Dave Foley, as well as Daly Show Correspondents Samantha Bee and Jason Jones)

THE POINT of this movie is that the ACTING SUCKS. That's the point. Some people will get it, and some people just plain wont. There are many deliberately awkward moments in the film (in the tradition of British comedy giant Ricky Gervais) which many people will not like... ...but many people will find hilarious.

Bottom line. You'll be more likely to enjoy the movie if you're Canadian, specifically from Southern Ontario. If you know what "Marineland" is, you'll love it. If you liked "The Office" (British) you'll probably like the movie. If you're intoxicated in any way, you'll probably like the movie.

Or you'll hate it as much as the last guy.

This is the worst movie I have ever seen. Who are all of these people that are leaving the comments that say how good they think this movie is? There is no way anybody except somebody who is in this movie or there families can with a straight face say this movie is funny at all. It looks like it was shot on a high school video yearbook camcorder and the dialog is so bad it is like it was written by a bunch of fifth graders while they were skipping English class. I am sick and tired of these awful Canadian movies that make other Canadian movies look bad. How do they even get made? It's like the government will give money and film rights to anybody who can make a movie for less than $500. If you want to see a good Canadian comedy I recommend you go see something like Phil the Alien. One of the guys in this movie is also in Phil the Alien. I don't blame the people in this movie for it being so bad. It is just an awful script and bad directing. In my opinion this video is not even worth watching for free on TV let alone renting. Avoid at all costs!