Even with the glory days long gone, Saturday Night Live has maintained mass interest by having A-list guest hosts engage in thoroughly irreverent comedy that usually challenges public perception, and when the trailer first hit for Movie 43, it looked like Hollywood was trying to translate a similar formula to the big screen. It was certainly a shock to see so many top-billed talents like Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, and Terence Howard tease thoroughly offensive humor, and with so many different storylines, there was a good chance that the shifts in focus would help maintain audience attention regardless of the quality of individual shorts. Aside from the trailer, there was almost no marketing activity from Relativity, a rather curious move when you consider the fact that the film took several years to make because of the different availabilities of the large cast…if you are going to put that much effort into getting the movie made, why not work harder to at least guarantee mass awareness? It certainly didn’t bode well that rumors surfaced of several cast members trying to leave the project, but if anything, it was still clear that Movie 43 wasn’t meant to be taken seriously and should instead be seen as an experiment. Based on its impressive star power, my own curiosity, and early rumors that viewing required a thoroughly immature sense of humor, I was looking forward to Movie 43.
I have reviewed some thoroughly
reviled films, but I have never seen as negative response as the one that is
being given to Movie 43, which
critics have labeled as one of the worst films ever made; and to me, such a
reaction is largely unfair. Yes, this
black comedy goes out of its way to be offensive and a good portion of the
skits fall completely flat, but anyone who finds themselves shocked clearly
didn’t notice the R-rating and the consistent billing that promised twisted
humor. Yet, even if you walk into Movie 43 looking at it as a TV-MA and
“shock-and-awe” version of sketch comedy, I can acknowledge that a very
specific sense of humor is required to laugh, and I think that lack of mass
appeal is souring the critics. If
anything, I found it kind of refreshing to see high-profile actors devolve into low-brow situations, and I do respect the
guts it took to try and execute such an unconventional project…the gamble
didn’t pan-out, but hey, it happens. In
the end, I’ve seen far worse than Movie
43 and I did find myself laughing at a few sketches, but they weren’t
anything that couldn’t have waited for home media.
