A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY Reviewed by Jamie Peck
The "SNL" incarnation of "Roxbury," as fans of the show already know, follows the plight of two wild-and-crazy-wannabes (played by Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan) as they peruse - and get thrown out of - the L.A. club scene for violently pelvic-thrusting pretty ladies, all the while bobbing their heads to the beat of Haddaway's dance hit "What Is Love?" Not much meat to build an 87-minute story on, and boy, does it show. For those keeping track, the movie's biggest accomplishment is giving these loser siblings names - Steve and Doug Butabi.
The Butabis ambition, for lack of a better word, is to one day gain passage into the Roxbury, a swank, Studio 54-esque nightspot that celebs like Richard Grieco (playing himself) frequent. Once Steve (Ferrell) and Doug (Kattan) finally make it inside, due to a Grieco-involved auto mishap that's perhaps the most complicated thing about the film, the Roxbury angle is pushed aside for some boring business involving trampy golddiggers, brotherly dissension and Steve's impending nuptials with the heiress (Molly Shannon) of a lightbulb enterprise.
At least that last development allows for an uproarious wedding climax that manages to pull off witty jabs at "The Graduate," "Say Anything ..." and "Jerry Maguire," all one right after the other. And although those spoofs are probably "A Night at the Roxbury"'s sole claims to hitting the comedic bullseye, there is enough sporadic lowbrow silliness to impress those looking for a cinematic good time a la "Dumb and Dumber" - these guys make those guys look like Stanford grads. Ferrell and Kattan must be, er, complimented for their ability to, uh, lose themselves in their characters.
Loni Anderson shows up with that scary cleavage of hers as the Butabi's plastic surgery-addicted mom, and Chazz Palminteri does a turn as the Roxbury's owner, a goateed lothario fond of asking various friends and patrons, "Did you grab my a--?" But the former refrains from speaking much and the latter isn't even billed - it seems that even the on-hand talent was aware of how unevenly unhip "A Night at the Roxbury" is. Oh, sure, those that eat the Butabis up in their weekly fragmented "SNL" format will really love this ... but what is love, really?
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