Andy Samberg stars in Hot Rod - the latest Saturday Night Live laden comedy to hit the big screen. In short, this movie is a Will Ferrell meets Jon Heder hybrid that combines lots of slapstick comedy as well as ‘geek chic’ - in a movie that is pretty funny, but not the best of the summer.

Samberg stars as Rod, a moped riding amature stunt man whose life’s ambition is to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father has long passed away and his mother, Sissy Spacek, has since been remarried to Frank, a feisty 50-something who Rod is striving to best in a fight.

When Frank becomes ill and needs a heart transplant, Rod realizes that he could lose his stepfather without having ever “kicked his ass”. It is for this reason, that Rod begins his plan to raise $50,000 for a “conveniently priced” heart transplant. Rod and his gang of friends/supporters (Bill Hader, Jorma Taccone, Danny McBride) begin to plan the “Ultimate Jump”. Isla Fisher enters as Denise, the hot girl next door who, for some inexplicable reason, enjoys hanging out with these losers. Will Arnett (Arrested Development) plays a small role as Denise’s boyfriend Jonathan; and he really plays the roll of the Jerk well (as he usually does).

I think that Andy Samberg is destined to become one of the next great comedy stars. He brings a presence similar to Will Ferrell, and has a great talent for physical comedy. His ‘geek chic’ comedic approach is similar to Jon Heder and I think he brings a good combination of talents to the screen. As co-founder of The Lonely Island, an Internet Comedy Troupe, he is no stranger to comedy - their Digital Shorts on SNL may have really helped save that show.

Hot Rod is a funny movie, with some fine up-and-coming talent. Definitely worth checking out.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.