DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
TV director Danny Leiner's DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? tells an oft-told tale about a couple of stoner dudes whose IQs match their age. Trying to find something original, first-time writer Philip Stark's script includes a transgendered lap dancer, space nerds and sexy extraterrestrials. In more competent hands, the silly plot might have been developed into something funny. PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, from earlier this year, had a similarly ridiculous story which turned out much better. Even if DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? would rate a zero on the Laugh-o-Meter, at least it is a fairly good-spirited and colorful film that produces a few smiles.
A kitchen sink comedy, it throws in every gag that it can think of within the bounds of a PG-13 rating. (Speaking of bounds, the PG-13 rating apparently permits animals to smoke dope until they are wasted so long as the animal is a dog and not a human.)
Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott play Jesse and Chester, a couple of guys who got so stoned that they don't remember the previous night and where they left their car. Going in search of the auto, they find that the house of their twin girlfriends, Wanda (Jennifer Garner) and Wilma (Marla Sokoloff), has been trashed by the party that they can't remember.
It is a shame that they can't recall the previous night since people keep running into them to remind them about it. One is a buxom blonde, Christie Boner (Kristy Swanson), who only dates hunks but who apparently made an exception for them last night. She offers a free feel of her "ho-hos" to rekindle their memory.
The real excitement begins when five self-described "hot chicks," show up to offer Jesse and Chester sexual pleasure in exchange for something called the "continuum transfunctioner." This is a device from outer space whose "mystery is only exceeded by its power." Yes, you guessed, these chicks are really aliens who are up to no good. In addition, some space nerds, who make Trekkies look like rocket scientists, want the device so that they can travel into space. The nerds wear "interstellar jumpsuits" made of ordinary bubble wrap.
Although I haven't even touched on other subplots like the one involving killer ostriches, you probably know more than enough to get a good sense of the movie. This much can be said in its defense -- it is far from the worst movie this year. It wouldn't even make the bottom 10. That may not exactly be a recommendation, but it is the best that can be said. Well, I guess I can think of one other -- I never considered walking out.
DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? runs a quick 1:23. It is rated PG-13 for language and some sex and drug-related humor and would be acceptable for most teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
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