A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)

This movie really wasn't for me, didn't get it and if it was supposed to be funny I missed it. I'm sure it's good if it's your type of film, just wasn't for me...

A Futile and Stupid Gesture is a terrific movie with a very well developed plot and an outstanding comedic cast. It was a really fascinating, unconventional biography film as we follow the origins of how the successful magazine company National Lamppon came about. Following its founders Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard, as they take a giant leap and soon have a smash hit, it was interesting to discover some amazing facts about the company and its various members that I never knew about, with some unexpected turns throughout. I did think that the film could have had some moments of taking itself a bit more seriously. It remains slapstick and manic for the majority of it, which I quite enjoyed, but then when it tries to be sentimental towards the end, I could not take it in because it had been so goofy prior. The performances are all are around brilliant, and it was very interesting to see actors take on such well known comedians. Will Forte and Donhnall Gleeson are spectacular as Kenney and Beard, respectively, but other standouts also include Martin Mull as an older Doug Kenney, Jon Daly as Bill Murray, Joel McHale as Chevy Chase and Rick Glassman as Harold Ramis. Great fun from beginning to end. Hilarious, brilliantly acted and a fascinating true story, I would recommend A Futile and Stupid Gesture to anyone looking for a good comedy. Follows Doug Kenney and Henry Beard as they create the National Lampoon, the R rated magazine that soon becomes a global phenomenon. Best Performance: Will Forte

Based on A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever, Kenney basically assembled the cast of Saturday Night Live before the show even aired. From John Hughes, Anne Beatts and P.J. O'Rourke to Tony Hendra (Spinal Tap's manager Ian Faith) and Chris Miller (who co-wrote Animal House) on the writing side to Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner (and more) on the performance side, you can see how nearly every comedy in the 1980's had the Lampoon stamp - and stink - all over it.As for the film, it's pretty much made for comedy geeks who have the hardback of Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead and have watched the documentary that ensured ad nauseam, that have read and re-read every book on SNL, that can breathlessly tell you of the relevance of 1970's comedy. Yes, I am looking at the man in the mirror.If you knew nothing about Kenney, I'm not sure you'll come out of this film loving him. In my reading of him, I've always seen him as this mysterious force that would write and write and write and then disappear, only to come back and prove himself all over again until he fell into a whirlwind of drugs and depression and faded away from this reality. I've always found myself more drawn to the pure menace and in your face nature of Michael O'Donoghue, who is portrayed in the film by The State's Thomas Lennon. His intro scene, where he goes into a manic rant that sounds life and death and is really only directed to a record club operator is perfect. So if you're looking for a memoir of his greatest hits, this film is for you (indeed, the movie ending food fight has Beatts and O'Donoghue locked in a romantic embrace, making him near heroic).This is almost a game to spot the comedian and who they are playing, kind of like The Greatest Story Ever Told, but for comedy. That's Will Forte and Martin Mull as Kenney (I hoped against hope that I had been Mandala Effected into a world where Kenney survived, but no dice). Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux!) as Henry Beard. Pittsburgh's own Jon Daly as Bill Murray. John Gemberling (Bevers from Broad City) as Belushi. Ed Helms as a picture perfect Tom Snyder. Natasha Lyonne as Anne Beatts. Even Joel McHale, portraying his old Community castmate Chevy Chase, who comes off as much an enabler as a friend. Tony Hendra is the only person who really gets a hatchet job here, coming off as a joke and girlfriend thief (and his daughter's allegations of sexual abuse make him a troubling figure to enjoy these days). Paul Scheer even shows up as Paul Schaffer! Seriously, this film is just about a laundry list.I really liked some of David Wain (The State, Wet Hot American Summer) transitions in the film, such as how he uses the Lampoon Foto Funny style to explain Kenney's divorce and then how he decides to escape to Los Angeles with his girlfriend, Kathryn Walker. There's also plenty of explanation for why no one really looks like the people they're playing, an attempted explanation for the Lampoon's lack of minorities and a laundry list of the way the movie plays fast and loose with what really happened ("some other things we changed from real life for pacing, dramatic impact, or just cause we felt like it.").Obviously, this is a movie basically made for me to enjoy. And I did, but it's difficult for me to recommend it to anyone who doesn't really care about where comedy comes from.

The film moves along with a sense of invention and wit, like the supermarket economy version of an Edgar Wright movie, and feels like it might shift up a gear at any moment. But that 'intro' style vibe just kind of continues... right through until Kenney starts to unravel, where it just loses steam and doesn't have much of interest to say. Whereas say, in Fincher's The Social Network the film revolves and relies upon a compelling theme of loyalty's breaking point, or the value of ideas, AFASG's theme seems to never transcend 'hey, some people unravel the more successful they get!' I don't know what it is with these Netflix films, they all seem to be very eager to be impressive and likeable, but without really having a heart and soul. Its like a new genre aimed at people distracted on their phones or something.