A FUTILE AND STUPID GESTURE

A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)

In the 1970s and '80s, National Lampoon's success and influence creates a new media empire overseen in part by the brilliant and troubled Doug Kenney. The rise and fall of humor magazine National Lampoon and its co-founder Doug Kenney (played by Will Forte) is recounted in this biopic directed by David Wain. Domhnall Gleeson, Joel McHale, Seth Green and Thomas Lennon co-star in this ensemble homage to the subversive humorists who changed the American comedy landscape.

Rating: NR

Genre: Comedy

Directed By: David Wain

Written By: Michael Colton, John Aboud

On Disc/Streaming: Jan 26, 2018

Studio: Netflix

This is a good movie. It's a story well told but it's certainly one sided. For one thing it ignores the fact that National Lampoon wasn't very funny. It is also a bit of a hatchet job on the parents and P J O'Rourke, whose least credit, as probably the funniest American print writer of the 20th century, is editor of NL. There's a sense that the filmmakers have bitten off more than they can chew by trying to cram both the biography and the panoramic overview into one feature. Kenney and Beard are friends and business partners who experience the ups and downs of their creative partnership, but like many things in "A Futile and Stupid Gesture," their relationship feels like a glossy version of the truth.

While there's a bit of hero worship going on that deflates the piece, and Wain's direction is surprisingly uninspired, the biggest problem is the script that tries to cover too much ground.However fitting that a film about a man at existential odds with himself is itself at odds with its essential components, "A Futile and Stupid Gesture" could still have benefited from a bit more punch-up. But I find the amusing and the performance by the lead actors are great.

I would rate the movie a ambitious 3/5 . #Moviereview #blogging #Vigalcollective.