The Oscars were great and all, but for just a brief moment, I’d like to take the time to recognize a particularly endearing cross-section of films that never gets enough respect. The following are a list of ten truly terrific movies that were panned by critics upon their release, just because of their “low browness,” their narrative flaws (re: not having stories, plots, etc), or, most of all, because they’re all pretty funny and comedy can never really be considered “great.”
For the record, the list is restricted to movies that got mostly across-the-board bad reviews, not ones that a couple critics ripped on; the New York Times blasted The Godfather Part II, Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssy, and Duck Soup when they all orignally came out. Onto the list:
10. Anchorman
Unfortunately, “Anchorman” is little more than an extended “Saturday Night Live” skit with better wigs, real locations and a script that sputters as soon as its one-joke premise is exhausted. — Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
Knights of Columbus! Wouldn’t it be great if TV-based comedians weren’t afraid of making movies that were funnier than they are? — Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
What exactly is the “one” joke in Anchorman’s “one-joke premise”? Cause I’m pretty sure there are a bunch of jokes in it. In fact, the movie is nothing but a bunch of jokes all in a row. Is the “one joke” that the movie is only many jokes? And by that logic, could we call Dante’s Inferno a one-moral premise, cause it’s nothing more than a series of moral explorations? (Answer: Definitely)
9. Pootie Tang
No animal was hurt in the making of “Pootie Tang.” And the film company didn’t dump any known toxic substances. That pretty much exhausts the positive things one can say about “Pootie.” — Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
Akin to watching a random collection of deleted scenes from a misconceived movie that should never have darkened the inside of a theater in the first place. — Lou Lumenick, New York Post
At a recent VH1 corporate off-site, an executive named Van Toffler made an offhand comment during a speech about not having morals, saying, “well, I did make ‘Pootie Tang’ after all.” This admission was followed by an immediate hushed excitement through the crowd, which Toffler picked up on and asked “How many people in here have seen that movie, honestly?” and every hand in the room immediately went up. He then said “Really? O…k…” My point is, that wouldn’t have happened if a guy had said “You know, I did make the movie Atonement.”
8. Super Troopers
…By my liberal count, which includes wheezes, coughs and times I chuckled because I remembered something funny that happened the day before, I laughed about six times during the hundred minutes of this tedious riot of frat-house pranks. — A.O. Scott, New York Times
There’s nothing super about “Super Troopers” except for those deep into the low end of the frat-house mentality that equates smart-alecky with hilarity. — Kevin Thomas, L.A. Times
It hurts to see A.O. Scott on here, cause I find myself agreeing with him 99.9% of the time, but far too many critics got wrapped up in the empty characterizations of the cops and the “low brow” implications of their gags to just enjoy the bevy of innocuously quotable lines and the movie’s self-deprecating triumph. Also, stop calling it “frat humor.” It’s not. I f*cking hate frats, and frats hate me, and yet we both find this movie humorous.
7. The Cable Guy
This movie is neither exciting nor funny, and its constant, desperate attempts to make us laugh are pathetic. — James Berardinelli, Reel Reviews
The mistake “The Cable Guy” makes is taking itself too seriously, thinking that because something is not funny it’s automatically worthwhile. The film goes to great lengths to give Carrey’s character a back story and even tries to tack on a superfluous message about the joys of reading and the pernicious influence of TV. Anything to distract audiences from the mess that’s been made elsewhere. — Kenneth Turan, L.A. Times
The only thing we heard about this movie in the five months surrounding its release was Jim Carrey’s $20 million pricetag, prompting automatic critical backlash about how egregiously Carrey didn’t deserve the money with no one actually loosening up and watching the damn (stupid) movie. Garbo usedta make twenty beans’a picsha, ya see? Not money, actual beans! So this movie’s no good!
6. Zoolander
”Zoolander” doesn’t wear well because, like so many other saggy TV-driven sketches already hanging in the closet of feature-film duds, it’s been stretched beyond wearability; even with the director hustling his cast like a fashion-show martinet, there’s only so much cartoon emoting to be done before we’re anticipating a TV commercial break. — Lisa Schwartzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
This comedy far exceeds the time span over which watching people acting dumb and making funny faces remains funny. — Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune
Uh oh — get out your fashion-related jabs, critics, cause Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are at the top of their game, pre-coasting, and revelling in the opportunity to play the two most ridiculous characters they possibly can! Also this movie’s portrayal of the fashion industry is not wholly accurate! Grrr!!
5. Coming To America
The energy level in this movie is so low. This is the first Eddie Murphy movie I’ve ever seen that can accurately be described as lethargic. — Roger Ebert
This lightweight vehicle spends most of its time lugging exposition; and the main lugger is romantic lead Murphy, whose comic energies are thus wasted. — Desson Howe, Washington Post (review includes a bonus jab at “Eddie Murphy Raw”)
Murphy’s enegry level is sooooo looooowww!! Why couldn’t he have been more upbeat, like that fast-talking barber? And there’s way too much exposition!! It takes like ten minutes for them to come to America! Why is the movie called that then??? Sidenote: Are there any actual non-critic humans who don’t like this movie?
4. Wet Hot American Summer
Hello, Muddah, Hello, Faddah– Here I am at ‘Wet Hot American Summah.’ Wow, I hate it Something fierce– Except the astrophysicist David Hyde Pierce. (One Star) — Roger Ebert
It may be that the teen comedy and summer-camp spoof “Wet Hot American Summer” will have some lasting value to film schools as a model of how not to make a comedy. It’s really a model of how not to make anything. — Charles Taylor, Salon.com
I don’t totally blame the critics on this one, as those unfamiliar with the Wain/Showalter aesthetic might find the brand of humor a bit exclusive, but that being said, I totally blame the critics on this one.
3. Billy Madison
In the old days, performers used to get good first and then go into movies. Today, performers get on television first. We’re raising an entire generation of audience that doesn’t know what good is. — Barbara Shulgasser, San Francisco Chronicle
As a comic actor, Sandler has a bad habit of thinking he’s funnier than we do–although he’s not aiming very high here. He’s trying to be the King of the Peepee and Doodoo jokes. Worse, he isn’t. — Peter Rainer, L.A. Times
I didn’t expect critics from non middle-school newspapers to howl through this movie three times in the theater in the first week it came out like all of us did, but surely they can recognize when a megastar simply nails down his demographic with a fearlessly wacky 90-minute gagfest? They can’t? Oh, that sucks.
2. Dumb and Dumber
An execrable catalogue of doody jokes, “Dumb and Dumber” is an abominable, abdominal comedy. Aside from its tastelessness and dawdling pace, the movie’s chief problem is the lackluster chemistry between leading lummoxes Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. — Rita Kempley, Washington Post
At its best, Dumb and Dumber is like an Ernest movie with a scatological bent. Of course, there’s as much a place in motion pictures for lowbrow humor as there is for philosophical morality tales, but that assumes the jokes actually work. — James Berardinelli, Reel Reviews
I love when critics treat “lowbrow comedy” as something that should be inherently dismissed because God has damned it to the shallow end of the Social Darwinism pool, like they’re Victorian aristrocrats making haughty cracks about “the lower class” over brandy with cigars in it. We have to realize — all lowbrow comedy is the same, and by that right, we are worse humans for ever deriving pleasure from it.
1. Caddyshack
The first-time director, Harold Ramis, can’t hold it together: the picture lurches from style to style (including some ill-placed whimsy with a gopher puppet) and collapses somewhere between sitcom and sketch farce. — Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
If they were somehow all drawn together into the same story, maybe we’d be carried along more confidently. But Caddyshack feels more like a movie that was written rather loosely, so that when shooting began there was freedom – too much freedom – for it to wander off in all directions in search of comic inspiration. — Roger Ebert
Caddyshack??? Caddyf*ckingshack?? The most nonthreateningly likeable, impossibly watchable comedy classic that everyone from ages negative ten to infinity plus one f*cking loves? What kind of joyless existence must these people live?
HONORABLE MENTIONS: UHF, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Happy Gilmore, Rookie of the Year, Ghostbusters 2, countless others.
Any others we missed? Leave ‘em in the comments!
