Let me preface this review by saying that yes, I am a conservative, and yes, I'm sick of Michael Moore documentaries and the general elitist attitude Hollywood has towards the USA.
That being said, this still isn't a great movie.
in case you haven't heard,
An American Carol is the brainchild of David Zucker, and is supposed to be a modern day retelling of
A Christmas Carol. Only this time, Scrooge is replaced by Michael Malone, a fat, lazy, slob of a director, whose anti-american documentaries are constantly upstaged by his feature-film director counterparts. In his desperation, he inadvertantly helps a trio of hapless terrorists who are planning on blowing up a benefit concert on Independence Day.
I was never expecting a deep political satire to begin with, it is directed by one of the comedic minds behind
Airplane! after all, but I was expecting it to be funny. And it is in many places, but with such shallow, sophomoric gags and lines as to make
Tropic Thunder look brilliant. This is political incorrectness at its most extreme, and many of the laughs are derived at the expense of Malone, the terrorists, and various other kooks that are encountered throughout the meandering plot.
"This beard makes you look like a terrorist! Which is funny and ironic because you actually are a terrorist, but I don't know that yet! Comedy!"
Some of the shots taken at the far-left are actually pretty humorous (in my opinion, at least). The interview with Rosie O'
Connell was spot on her spouting lunacy that made even the main character cringe. ("Because everyone knows that 911 was the first time fire ever melted steel!")
But the one part of the movie that consistently made me laugh was Kelsey Grammar as General George S. Patton.
Is he worth my eight bucks though?
Speaking of Kelsey Grammar, there was a lot of stunt casting in this movie. Everyone from Paris Hilton to Bill O'Reily makes an appearance. Leslie Nielsen, Dennis Hopper, and Jon Voight play important roles, along with....Trace Adkins? Seriously? You couldn't find any other famous conservative musicians that actually play...y'know, good music?
"What the fuck do you mean 'We couldn't get Ted Nugent'?!"
So, overall, if you think
South Park,
Airplane!, and
The Naked Gun are all hilarious, chances are you'll laugh at this too. But those actually expecting a more complex political satire should stay far away.
I give it a 6 out of 10. Still funny, but if you aren't conservative to begin with, this movie isn't likely to convince you to change anytime soon.
SWE3tMadness's blog
follow this blog
subscribe via RSS
send message
invite to meetup+play
The fact that this is currently playing at two of the three movie theaters in my general area, and [obviously elitist rant]Religulous isn't at any of them says a lot about the politics of the area I'm stuck in for the time being.[/obviously elitist rant]
Sheep, you elitist. Put down your lattes and $500 loafers and pick up a gun and a flag!
I personally enjoyed this movie. It wasn't a masterpiece by any means, but I laughed a good bit. Of course, I lean more to the conservative side, but regardless of that I thought some of the jokes would have been funny even if they didn't have the conservative mindset.
"Trace Adkins? Seriously? You couldn't find any other famous conservative musicians that actually play...y'know, good music?"
Of course, country music being "good music" is a matter of opinion. I personally do not care for most of it, but the movie even made fun of country music too. And yes, Kelsey Grammar as Patton was gold, IMO. I personally would have gave it a 8/10, but I'm weird to begin with and hate most movies that come out these days. Good review!
Oh, and I really loved the college indoctrination musical portion.
I feel that I would like this about as much as a Michael Moore movie. Yay for America, the land of equal propaganda?
When I saw the trailer, I was convinced Chris Farley had faked his own death and started eating better, but it was just his brother.
I was wondering about this one. I'd like to support conservative values in Hollywood but I think watching this movie would have the same net effect as farting at Air Man.
Oh well. Sounds like I can wait for the second-run showing or make it a rental.
"I think watching this movie would have the same net effect as farting at Air Man."
Qalamari, I've got to use that simile sometime. xD