Hot Rod (2007) - Samberg and Schaffer arrive with amiable stunt comedy

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+ Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year

Andy Samberg strikes a fearless pose on this pretty rad poster for Akiva Schaffer's Hot Rod

Rod wants to earn the love of his stepfather - and then beat his ass - by jumping over 15 buses on his motorbike. - The ultimate jump!

Hot Rod is written by Pam Brady (Hamlet 2 (2008)) and directed by theatrically debuting Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)).
Andy Samberg (Major Lazer (2015), TV-series) isn't as funny as the protagonist as Will Ferrell might have been, (the movie was written with him in mind originally), but he is many times easier on the eye, and he really works for his laughs here. He is teamed up with an enthusiastic cast that includes Bill Hader (The Angry Birds Movie (2016)), Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down (2009-13)), Sissy Spacek (Gray Matters (2006)) and Ian McShane (Columbo (1990), TV-series). They all help make Hot Rod a funny film. It features a lot of stunts and some hysterical comedy.

Related post:

2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 25.3 mil. $
Box office: 14.3 mil. $
= Huge flop (0.56 times the cost)
[Hot Rod was released 3 August (USA) and runs 88 minutes. The film was in development for years at Paramount as a Ferrell vehicle, which never came to fruition. After Samberg's Lonely Island music-comedy group were hired to SNL in 2005, the film changed direction to suit them instead. Shooting took place in British Columbia, Canada, including Vancouver, from July - September 2006. The film opened and peaked #9 to a 5.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 13.9 mil. $ (97.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 163k $ (1.1 %) and United Arab Emirates with 84k $ (0.6 %). Roger Ebert agreed with this review in giving the film a 3/4 star review. Hot Rod sold in excess of 24 mil. $ worth of copies on the North American home video market, which, if added into its theatrical gross, would change its status to that of merely a 'big flop'. Schaffer returned with several episodes of SNL and Lonely Island video shorts en masse before he returned to cinemas with The Watch (2012). Samberg returned theatrically in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008). Hot Rod is rotten at 40 % with a 4.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hot Rod?

I Love You, Man (2009) - Rudd, Segel and others achieve laughs aplenty in Hamburg's feel-good bromance

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The sweet mugs of the three endearing stars of John Hamburg's I Love You, Man sell the film all on their own

Peter is a middle-aged, engaged man, whose fiancée thinks it's a problem that he doesn't have any real friends of his own or a best man. This makes him seek out 'man-dates' for a friend and best man, until he meets the eccentric Sydney Fife, a cougar-chasing bachelor, who owns a 'man-cave'.

I Love You, Man is the 3rd feature from great New-Yorker co-writer-director John Hamburg (Along Came Polly (2004)), based on a script by Larry Levin (Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001)). Rashida Jones (Cuban Fury (2014)) as Peter's fiancée and her girlfriends are a bit taxing at first, (but it is purposeful), and the film has a vomiting scene with Jon Favreau (Chef (2014)) as the sprayed victim that is incredibly (overly) gross.
But you should disregard these minor drawbacks, because I Love You, Man is also perhaps 2009's funniest film: Paul Rudd (Knocked Up (2007)) and Jason Segel (New Jersey Turnpikes (1999)) as the two budding friends develop a relationship that involves much hilarity, and in particular Rudd is funnier and dopier here than he has ever been before.
I Love You, Man also has a substantial list of funny side characters (Thomas Lennon (Lethal Weapon (2017), TV-series) and Lou Ferrigno (Ping! (2000)) stand out) and is also commendable for its total acceptance of homosexuals, (Andy Samberg (Take the 10 (2017)) plays Peter's gay brother), which is just an added, extra quality of this feel-good comedy, which is a bit of a laugh riot and is also a love-letter to Los Angeles.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 91.6 mil. $
= Minor flop
[I Love You, Man premiered 13 March (Austin, Texas' South by Southwest Film Festival) and runs 104 minutes. Hamburg based his script on Levin's which was a broader and less adult in tone and written 11 years before the film went into production. Shooting took place in California, almost entirely in Los Angeles, from April - May 2008. Rock band Rush appears in a live show performance in the film and were pleased with their inclusion in the film. The film opened #2, behind Knowing, to a 17.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 2 weeks (#4; #5) and grossed 71.4 mil. $ (77.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 6.8 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Australia with 3.4 mil. $ (3.7 %). The film had a home video sale of more than 22 mil. $, which, if counted into the equation, would make it count as a box office success. I Love You, Man is certified fresh at 84 % with a critical average of 6.9/10 at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Love You, Man?