Hate To Love It: 'Hot Rod'

The humor of Andy Samberg & Co. is strictly hit or miss. Some audiences can take it as immature buffoonery only meant to humor teenage boys (i.e. the music video "I Just Had Sex"). But then there's some — like me and my roommate — who take it for what it is: stupid but funny.

"Hot Rod" is a 2007 comedy from the brains of the Lonely Island gang. The movie is directed by Akiva Schaffer and stars the other two legs of the comedy trio, Jorma Taccone and Samberg. At the surface, it sounds like a typical movie headlined by an SNL alum (think "Horrible Bosses" or "Superbad"), but it's really something else entirely.

The movie is weird. It's set in an unconfirmed time period that looks like a mix between the 80s (Rod, played by Samberg, is really into growing a porno mustache) or early 90s (the trucker hats and other questionable attire). But then suddenly there's a character driving a modern-looking sports car.

But other than that, the bulk of the film's humor — surprisingly — isn't in the poorly-planned extreme stunts orchestrated by Rod's gang of misfits (which include a brilliant cast of Taccone, Bill Hader and Danny McBride). Though there certainly are some laugh-out-loud slapstick moments, most notably when Rod and his motocycle dive directly into a pool, not even close to the jumping platform.

The humor is in the recognizable quirks of Samberg & Co. There's a 3-minute sequence of Rod and his stepbrother Kevin (Taccone) saying "cool beans" to each other in different voices. There's another 2 minutes of Kevin trying to dicipher why Rod is pronouncing his WH's like "wHiskey."

And, in probably the dumbest yet most hilarious scene of the film, Rod spoofs some kind of "Footloose"/cathartic solo dance number in the woods, followed by 2 minutes of him falling down what seems to be a very steep hill.

In summary, the movie is kind of pointless. Sure, the plot concludes with Rod barely completing his biggest stunt of jumping 15 buses, all in an effort to raise money for his ailing stepfather. But it's hard not to laugh at the stupid stuff. Just watch Will Arnett scream, "Babe!" for 3 minutes after Isla Fischer, spoofing the well-worn trope of the scorned, jerk ex-boyfriend.

"Hot Rod" is obviously branded with the recognizable trimmings of a Lonely Island production. Though the screenplay is penned by Pam Brady, Samberg & Co. are uncredited writers (according to Google). It's an embarrassing movie to quote, but the fact that I can't decide to include a sentence about Rod and his hand gestures or Bill Hader's character recounting a drug trip is a testament to how ridiculously funny, and ultimately sweet, it is.

Hopefully the upcoming Lonely Island movie will be just as fun and embarrassing to love as "Hot Rod."

#hatetoloveit #hotrod