Movie 43 seemed like a bad idea the first time I heard about it. A handful of well-known actors come together for a gross-out film of epic proportions with a handful of directors and writers pulling it all together. It’s like Paris, Je t’aime via Funny or Die.
A sketch movie like Kentucky Fried Movie, Amazon Women on the Moon, Monty Python’s Meaning of Life or the Scary Movie franchise – this is a selection of thematically similar sketches tenuously tied together by the flimsiest scrap of narrative you’ve ever seen (which is probably the most entertaining part of the entire film).
The “story” follows a screen writer with a few screws loose (Dennis Quaid) who’s pitching to a movie producer (Greg Kinnear) some of the worst film ideas you’ve ever heard and the sketches are those bad pitch ideas.
The sketches are mostly puerile (something I have no problem with) and the Hollywood names that star in this do well with what little they’ve got. Considering that there are about 14 sketches and I actually enjoyed almost five of them, you’ve got to weigh up whether or not the whole is worth your time.
The reason you’ll watch this is to see what a certain name that you see on the poster is doing in it and then you’ll be sad if you parted with money to make it happen.
PS Bob Odenkirk is credited on this film and if like me, he’s one of the reasons that you’re giving this a shot, he does not actually contribute to anything (as far as I can tell). Perhaps his material got cut or he had a consulting role – a slightly uninteresting mystery which may never be solved unless you actually talk to the guy.
Mog Thistlethwaite 