Unfunny "Movie 43," with large cast, is an epic bomb
I had high hopes that the new comedy "Movie 43," which features one of the largest and most star-studded ensembles in movie history, would be original, sharp and laugh-out loud funny. It's none of those things, and after seeing the finished product, none of those would likely want this on their resume. With twelve different storylines and directors, including Peter Farrelly, Brett Ratner and Bob Odenkirk and starring the likes of Greg Kinnear, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Justin Long, Halle Berry, Seann William Scott, Richard Gere and Anna Faris, to name just a few, the film crashes and burns early on and doesn't recover. The rambling, episodic film tells the story of a filmmaker (Quaid) who holds producer Kinnear hostage so he can pitch a truly god-awful film to him. The fact that it's terribly offensive, unfunny and shoddy, wasting all of the actors who appear, doesn't help. With Farrelly on board, it's not surprising the film is both outrageous and shocking yet that's not the film's clear problem; it's like the best of the most unfunny "Saturday Night Live" skits you've seen and placing them all in the same film. The initial episode with Winslet and Jackman is mildly funny, as is the one with Watts and real-life partner Liev Schreiber, but the rest are meant really just exist to have shock value and little else. Poop, menstruation and super heroes are all made of along the way, much of which will make you cringe. Shot over several years to accommodate all the actors involved, it's a strange, uneven mess of an experiment of a film that will only be remembered for what a bomb it was. Sure, I get it. "Movie 43" is meant to offend and outrage, maybe that is the point but not a bit of it is genuinely funny. "Movie 43" is the "Heaven's Gate" of comedy films, so you're better off staying as far away as possible.
Wes's Grade: D-
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