DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR?
Review by John Beachem
* * * 1/2
Directed by: Danny Leiner Written by: Philip Stark
Jesse (Ashton Kutcher) and Chester (Seann William Scott) are two pot heads who have just woken up after the wildest night of their lives. They trashed their girlfriends' house, and are wanted by the police, and somehow bought a lifetime supply of pudding. Unfortunately, there's just one problem: they don't remember any of it. They're certain the answers to all their questions lie in Jesse's car, but it seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. As the two attempt to track it down, events around them change from fuzzy, to strange, to downright bizarre. Somehow they seem to have become embroiled in an intergalactic war involving a mysterious object of unspeakable power, and its power is exceeded only by its mystery (as Jesse points out, that's not a lot of help in identifying it). Now, their girlfriends have been kidnapped by a group of fanatical nerds, they're being hunted by a transsexual thief, two unusual Nordic guys are following them everywhere they go, an army of ostriches is on their heels, and if you're feeling confused by all of this, just imagine how Jesse and Chester feel!
I feel somehow dumber for having watched this film. It's like being in the presence of an hour and a half of utter mindlessness has killed a multitude of brain cells. Even worse, and this is something I'm truly ashamed to admit, I enjoyed this mindless mess. Dude, Where's My Car? (I still get a kick out of that stupid title) is such an inherently good natured movie that I simply couldn't help but have a good time. Now, bear one thing in mind, this is a teen flick through and through. Everyone over the age of twenty three will no doubt sit there, staring at the screen in utter bafflement, wondering what all these kids are laughing at. After the movie they'll probably whine and complain that it wasn't funny and these kids today just don't know what good humor is. Normally, I'd agree, but this movie is not directed at adults. It's directed at high school age kids, those who laugh at just about anything resembling stupid humor (and this is some very, VERY stupid humor), and it will succeed in entertaining them.
Seann William Scott (Road Trip) and Ashton Kutcher (television's "That Seventies Show") are asked to carry this film entirely on their shoulders, and I'm happy to announce that they do a pretty good job. They're young actors, so obviously their comic timing is a little off, but what they lack in experience they make up for in effort. These guys are really trying to pull some laughs out of the audience, and they manage to do it on several occasions. Seann William Scott's primary strength is in his outlandish facial expressions. Two scenes that got a chuckle out of me were the look on his face while watching "Animal Planet", and the one he made when confronted by a very angry ostrich. Ashton Kutcher, on the other hand, is at his best when delivering really moronic lines with complete seriousness. My favorite was when he asks Christie Boner (Kristy Swanson) if she'd seen his car. She gets a little smile on her face, runs a hand down his chest and says, "I saw the back seat." Chester's jaw drops, but Jesse gets a confused look and then says, "Oh no, I was talking about the WHOLE thing." The rest of the cast is required to do very little, and they're all equal to the task. Fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" should watch for Brent Spiner in a brief appearance as a French ostrich farmer (don't ask, I still don't quite get that one).
The question you have to answer before even considering walking into Dude, Where's My Car? is this: Do I find people acting like complete idiots to be funny? Obviously if you are going into this movie expecting a strikingly witty and intelligent film, featuring excellent direction and a fascinating story, you haven't seen the previews. In fact, you probably haven't seen the previews for anything since you've no doubt been living in a cave for the past ten years. The humor in this film is more of this variety: Jesse says, "Dude, where's my car?" Chester says, "Where's your car dude?" Jesse repeats, "Dude, WHERE'S my car?" Chester repeats, then Jesse, then Chester, until you want to smack them both upside the head. If that sounds like the most moronic thing you've heard in your entire life, avoid this movie like you'd avoid your average outbreak of ebola. Yes, about half the jokes in the film fall completely flat, even for your average teen-ager. Yes, Danny Leiner's direction can only be described as inept at best as he allows countless scenes to go on for far too long. Finally, yes, the only people who should find this amusing are those who think the idea of a movie jumping into a music video up and out of nowhere is hilarious. Sad as it might sound, I actually laughed when that happened.
Despite the fact that only half the jokes work, and even they don't work too well, the movie does have two other factors working in its favor. First, as I mentioned earlier, it's extremely good natured. The closest the film ever comes to a mean spirited moment is when an old woman drives over Chester and makes a really nasty comment explaining why. Otherwise, these two guys try their best to help their girlfriends, make amends for whatever they might have done wrong the night before, and track down that infernal car. The other thing I really enjoyed about the film is that in a really dumbed down way, it rather works as a mystery. Obviously I'm not saying it's worthy of Dame Christie or anything, but it's interesting watching the events of the previous night slowly fall into place as our intrepid heroes track down one bizarre clue after another. The soundtrack to Dude Where's My Car? features nothing more than a compilation of fairly modern pop songs. What did you expect, a new score from Hans Zimmer? The movie runs a quick 86 minutes, and it stops just before wearing out it welcome. I'd recommend it to fans of teen movies, but not to adults under any circumstances. I give the flick three and a half out of five stars.
Comments? Send to: johnbeachem@dependentfilms.net
Past reviews can be found at: http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem
* * * * * - One of the best movies of the year. * * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one. * * * - Okay movie, hits and misses. * * - Pretty bad, see it at your own risk. * - See this one only if you enjoy pain.
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