This lowbrow comedy is a near-total success. This film should cause plenty of laughter, and that is clearly its only aim. The performances by Norm MacDonald and Artie Lange were A+, basically playing the personas they established through their stand-up acts and TV appearances. This film is largely grounded on these two never-boring and often-funny characters, who each found a perfect vehicle for himself in this film.
Director Bob Saget clearly deserves a lot of credit for giving these two the freedom to basically just do their acts. Artie Lange and Norm MacDonald either helped write this script, or else they really took it and made it their own, and they are two pretty funny guys.
But there's more. There's Jack Warden's brilliant performance as the crusty old father, Don Rickles' classic scene with Artie Lange, an appropriately not-quite-over-the-top and enjoyable performance by Chevy Chase who appears in a few scenes without stealing them, and Chris Farley putting in a fine performance in this his final film. All are funny and entertaining in their own ways, but this is clearly Norm MacDonald's and Artie Lange's movie.
One quibble would be with Traylor Howard's uneven performance as the love interest. Probably not the greatest actress, but she's nice to look at.
This is one of the top 25 all-time classic lowbrow-style comedies, and one of the five best of the 90's. It has a pretty unique style in terms of its comedy, thanks largely to Norm MacDonald and Artie Lange. There is no way this film deserves less than an 8 from anyone. It's one thing to not like an entire genre, but this film is obviously a near-total success at what it set out to do--to make us laugh frequently.
As I write, this film has an average rating of 5.9, making this one of the more underrated films here, and another example of the ratings at IMDb meaning very little.
Director Bob Saget clearly deserves a lot of credit for giving these two the freedom to basically just do their acts. Artie Lange and Norm MacDonald either helped write this script, or else they really took it and made it their own, and they are two pretty funny guys.
But there's more. There's Jack Warden's brilliant performance as the crusty old father, Don Rickles' classic scene with Artie Lange, an appropriately not-quite-over-the-top and enjoyable performance by Chevy Chase who appears in a few scenes without stealing them, and Chris Farley putting in a fine performance in this his final film. All are funny and entertaining in their own ways, but this is clearly Norm MacDonald's and Artie Lange's movie.
One quibble would be with Traylor Howard's uneven performance as the love interest. Probably not the greatest actress, but she's nice to look at.
This is one of the top 25 all-time classic lowbrow-style comedies, and one of the five best of the 90's. It has a pretty unique style in terms of its comedy, thanks largely to Norm MacDonald and Artie Lange. There is no way this film deserves less than an 8 from anyone. It's one thing to not like an entire genre, but this film is obviously a near-total success at what it set out to do--to make us laugh frequently.
As I write, this film has an average rating of 5.9, making this one of the more underrated films here, and another example of the ratings at IMDb meaning very little.