Hot Rod (DVD)

(Also appears at ShaunMunro.co.uk) Director: Akiva Schaffer Cast: Will Arnett, Isla Fisher, Ian McShane, Adam Samberg, Sissy Spacek Release Date: August 3rd, 2007 (US), August 17th, 2007 (UK) Certificate: PG-13 (US) Hot Rod, quite simply, is one of the strangest, most offbeat comedies to come our way since Napoleon Dynamite (a film which, I hasten to add, I wasn't terribly fond of upon first viewing). Filled with irreverent gags, and so-called "random" interludes of "humour", Hot Rod is a curiosity of a comedy. It becomes clear early on that much of the laughs to be sought in Hot Rod are physical, ...  Read the complete review

I've just been to see my brother who's just got back in the country the other day having been out to Dubai on business. We said the usual 'hellos' and what-not but then he asks me if I've seen a film called 'Hot Rod'. Apparently he watched it on the plane back to the UK, thought it was fantastic and asked if I wanted to watch it now. You've got to bear in mind that by watching the film we would have missed the football on TV so the film must have been a cut above the rest! It was. The story is the usual american mr. nobody comes good formula but where this differs is that whenever it appears that it is going to get disgustingly saccharin it side-swipes you ...  Read the complete review

When I was a youth there was a cartoon series that was the talk of the playground. You may have heard of it, the show was called 'The Simpsons'. What made 'The Simpsons' so wonderful was its mystery and unavailability. You see this was before BBC2 and Channel 4 showed it and only rich friends with Sky had it. Luckily for me one such friend recorded several episodes onto VHS for me and I duly watched said episodes over and over again to the point were I still know all the dialogue when these episodes inevitably turn up on TV. One episode saw Bart want to become a stuntman; trying to put him off this idea his parents allow him to visit a stuntman in hospital. Rather ...  Read the complete review

Cashing in on the spate of loser comedies blazing into the cinemas in the last couple of years Hot Rod could possibly be the one that brings the whole genre, Apatow and Rogen notwithstanding, crashing down to Earth in a spectacular smash. Hot Rod is a terrible film that isn't just not funny it isn't even slightly amusing. Not one laugh is gained, or emitted, form the story of Rod and his redneck friends. Rod is a wannabe stuntman, a man who wants to take after his dad who worked with Evil Knievel before he died in a tragic accident one day. Rod's one aim is to emulate his dad and to do it in his memory. His stepdad, a very over the top Ian ...  Read the complete review

Hot Rod is a quite outrageous and off beat comedy. It is a bit over the top at times and quite silly but if you enjoy this type of humour like me , I think you will enjoy it. It is quite similar to the film Napoleon Dynamite and if you liked that film and its slightly retro style you will probably enjoy this film. It is also produced by american comedian and actor Will Ferrell. The film stars Andy Samberg as Rod Kimble who is a slacker living in a small US town with his mum, younger brother, and his stepfather whose respect he craves. He also misses his dead dad, who he thinks was former American motorcycle daredevil and entertainer Evel Knievel's back-up. ...  Read the complete review