Film

The obvious question: Is it just another SNL flick gone wrong? All of the signs are there: Hot Rod has the same bland aftertaste as its ’90s SNL-spin-off brethren (A Night at the Roxbury, Superstar, et al.); and it’s another inevitably disappointing big-screen jump for one of the show’s stars, Samberg. This one (about a ragtag group of stuntmen who try to break Evil Knievel’s motorcycle-jumping record) is more of the same, but with even more shameless pandering to the target-market. 

About 20 minutes in, Samberg offers two instantly recognizable, polar-opposite deliveries: After coming home and finding out his father (McShane) is about to kick it, Samberg, wearing a cape and intentionally fish-lipped, has a fit so reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite that he might as well have yelled “Idiot!” before exiting. Minutes later, while scheming to get the cutie next door (Fisher), he lowers his voice, playing the machismo-fueled buffoon card seen in, well, just about every Will Ferrell vehicle (Ferrell, coincidentally, is also an executive producer).

There’s nothing wrong with a little derivation, but these moves reek of flagrant market research, cramming the two major ingredients of modern commercial comedies (nerd-chic and masculine-idiocy) into scenes that don’t really warrant it. It’s a shame, too. The YouTube–like stunt videos and Chris Parnell’s non sequiturs (“I’m not saying that kiss was hot, listeners, but if the boner police were here, I’d demand a lawyer”) are mighty funny. But we know when we’ve been had.