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And we can also thank MTV for Tom Green. When I first heard of Green, I was befuddled by how such a goofy and obnoxious buffoon could become so popular. I should never underestimate the power of modern MTV viewers, however; these are the same people who selected a human speed bump named Jesse Camp for a yearlong stint as the first-ever "I want to be a VJ!"winner a few years back.

In 1999, an MTV executive discovered Tom Green's Canadian TV show, and decided it would be a good idea to import it. "The Tom Green Show" became an instant hit on MTV, even though many people over the age of 30, including me, just didn't understand his sense of rude and crude humor. Over time Green has been able to parlay his stateside success into a film career, showing up in small roles in Road Trip and Charlie's Angels (which happened to be co-produced by his then-fiancee and now-wife, Drew Barrymore). With these controlled amounts of exposure I've learned to tolerate Green as a bit player, but still can't take his full-blown shtick. With this in mind, I decided to take the plunge and do a review for Freddy Got Fingered. I figure it couldn't be as bad as all of the critics are making it out to be...right? Wrong.

Green plays Gord Brody, a struggling cartoonist that has returned home after having his dreams crushed by a semi-maniacal studio head named Mr. Davidson (yes, Anthony Michael Hall himself). Upon returning home, Gord is mercilessly belittled by his overbearing father Jim (Rip Torn), while his sheepish and downtrodden mother, Julie (Julie Hagerty) continues to encourage him. In the meantime, Gord's childhood buddy, Darren (Harland Williams) suffers a compound fracture in the name of comedy. Why is this important? Without this moment, Gord would have never met his wheelchair-burdened girlfriend, Betty (Marisa Coughlan), who is into some bizarre S&M escapades. Eddie Kaye Thomas plays Gord's beloved and much more successful brother, Freddy. In an unexplained fit of revenge, Gord accuses his father of fingering Freddy, who is eventually sent to a foster home, at the youthful age of 25. Do you understand all of this? No, neither did I.

The plot is inconsequential, since this is just one big excuse for Tom Green to screw around on camera. Perhaps the last hurrah for the gross-out comedy genre, Freddy Got Fingered makes the Farrelly brother's Dumb and Dumber look like Citizen Kane. While Tom Green has potential as a director (yes, he made this atrocity), he forgot the key ingredients for a good film… a coherent script and characters that the audience cares about. Hell, forget connecting with the main characters, just make them likable and we can go from there. Freddy Got Fingered just may be the most unpleasant and unenjoyable comedies ever made.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

I came into this film with absolutely no expectations in terms of quality, hence no expectations for its technical merits, either. Freddy Got Fingered is basically a student film with an incredibly large budget. Green has been let loose, and he's obviously having fun by experimenting with the camera. He's constantly jerking us around (literally) and playing with judicious amounts of over and undercranking the camera. Considering this is Green's first time at bat, the film actually looks very good, which can probably be attributed to his DP, Mark Irwin.

Freddy Got Fingered is presented in its original 1.85 aspect ratio and anamorphically encoded. Overall, the image is pretty good. Colors are fairly solid with accurate fleshtones, and blacks and contrast are decent. Aside from a couple of overexposed shots early in the film, the image is attractive with a fair amount of depth. I noticed no signs of digital artifacting, and the edge enhancement was nonexistent to my eyes. A decent transfer for a below average film.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

Freddy Got Fingered is a low-budget comedy, and even though Arnon Milchan is credited as the executive producer, I expected next to nothing from the soundtrack on this picture. While the 5.1 mix is limited, there is an aggressive use of punk and rock music throughout the film, and it is the most impressive aspect of this mix. The dialog is actually very well-recorded, and never overpowered by the other elements of the soundtrack, even the music. The use of aggressive split surrounds is limited to the opening title sequences, but there always seems to be an effective use of the surround channel in terms of overall ambiance. There is plenty of life to the .1 LFE channel, which perfectly enhances the loud and raucous nature of the film's score. When comparing the 5.1 track to the 2.0 surround track, the music and most effects are much more alive and fills the whole room, as opposed to being limited to the front of the sound stage, so go with the 5.1 if you can.

In addition to a French 2.0 surround track, English Closed Captions and English and Spanish subtitles are also provided.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Fox has created another fabulous special edition for Freddy Got Fingered, it's just too bad the film doesn't deserve it. The first supplement I experienced was the new screen- specific audio commentary with Tom Green. (Listen to excerpts.) This commentary is almost as free form as the film itself. Obviously recorded on the first take, Green's thoughts bounce from scene to scene as he watches his first film with glee, while he periodically talks to someone off mic to see if he's doing and saying the right things. Just like the film, the commentary track earns an R-rating, but at least this track does not leave me saying, "When is this going to be over already?" Fairly entertaining if you like Green's shtick.

Next up is the second audio "commentary" of sorts, a hybrid track. Part one features the "World Premiere" soundtrack, which was recorded live in Canada on March 21, 2001. Similar to The Rocky Horror Picture Show's audience participation soundtrack, this is basically a laugh track which helps make the picture more bearable. It is amazing how many lame jokes suddenly become funny when the audience gets in for free. In addition to Green's full length audio commentary, Harlan Williams, Marisa Coughlan and Rip Torn also provide some further screen-specific insights in part two of this track. Each actor adds comments for the parts when they are actually in the film, what they were thinking and what it was like to work with Tom Green. I've seen a few interviews with Green apart from his show, and Rip Torn confirms that he really is a grounded guy. Hope these guys have good agents. All of the additional soundtracks can only be accessed via the special features menu, since they run various lengths.

Fox secured the rights to the Freddy Got Fingered MTV Special, although since they helped produce this pseudo-documentary this isn't much of a surprise. Clocking in at just over 20 minutes, this documentary (and I use the term loosely) is much more entertaining than your HBO First Look-type special. Sure, both are just purely promotional, but at least MTV specials tend to be more lighthearted and entertaining. Covering everything from the "The Horse Masturbating Scene" to a disgruntled hot dog vendor, this comedy special never takes itself too seriously and contains some brief snippets of scenes that were deleted from the final film. Speaking of deleted scenes...

Five Deleted Scenes, which can be viewed either with or without commentary by Tom Green, are also included. I chose to watch these with Green's whacked-out mind trying to explain his reasons for removing them. Most were excised in the name of pacing, which says a hell of a lot considering the film runs a crisp 87 minutes, including the credit crawls. These moments, which include "Sucking the Cow" and "Uncle Neal's House," are funny within the context of the picture but largely unnecessary. The most interesting deleted scene was Green's "Apocalypse Now Homage," which parodies the moment when Martin Sheen is overwhelmed by his whole Vietnam experience, set to The Doors song, "This Is The End." Green claims he would have indeed put this into the film, if only he could have secured the music rights for the song.

For sheer amusement (though I'm not sure if it is for his or for ours), Green has put together a PG-rated version of Freddy Got Fingered which runs a whole three minutes. I'd like to say this is an improvement, but it's not. Also thrown in for good measure are Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots (all presented in full frame and stereo); the Original Production Featurette which is lame at best; an elaborate set of Cast & Crew Filmographies, plus a Soundtrack Promo that is short and thus not too painful.

Parting Thoughts