| Overall Grade: |
B- |
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| Story: |
B+ |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
B- |
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Rational Lampoon
by JosephH (movies profile)
Oct 3, 2008
129
of
158 people found this review helpful
Let me get this out of the way--so that there is no question whether I have some "hidden" bias. I am what most would call a "conservative." I loathe Michael Moore and all that he "stands" for. He is an unappreciative parasite who should move to Cuba to partake of some of their wonderful health care. Consequentially, for me, An American Carol was a must-see--regardless of its quality.
The film was enjoyable, but I expected better. As with many movies, most of the best jokes were in the trailer. However, for those who despise the leftist bile that Hollywood typically spews, seeing Carol should be a priority, if for no other reason than to encourage more American value films and fewer we-know-better-than-you socialist tripe.
Anyway, on to the typical review stuff: Farley was a decent lampoon of Michael Moore. Grammer was a perfect choice for a comedic Patton. Hopper was a pleasant surprise (playing a nice counter to his early-career Sixties hippie and his latter-day Sixties burnout), as a gun-toting, ACLU-lawyer-killing, Ten-Commandment-protecting judge. Trace Adkins IS the Angel of Freaking Death. Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito were poor caricatures and subtracted from, rather than added to, the film.
The story, in typical Zucker fashion, was disjointed and structured solely to set up each successive gag in turn. That works well in movie lampoons, but not as well in political satire. Don't get me wrong, the gags are funny, some of them even laugh-out-loud funny. I just expected more.
The analog to Dicken's Carol is loose and exists merely as a structure on which to hang the story's political zingers. While not as funny as expected, those zingers were dead on target. Zucker scores point after point against the imbecilities of post-Kennedy liberalism.
Normally, a film of this quality would warrant a wait-for-TV recommendation, but the timeliness of the subject material demands a see-it-now mandate. Definitely get it on DVD also--for two main reasons: One, some of the jabs came too fast and furious to be individually appreciated. They require multiple viewings, modulated with a remote control, to properly reel from each singular punch line. And, two, those of us who have tired of filmdom's one-size-fits-all (and unAmerican) outlook need to reward film-makers who buck the Hollywood orthodoxy. Given enough potential of reward, more movie talent will be willing to produce more heresy with ever increasing quality, providing a genuine competitive alternative to current Hollywood monolithism.
If you are a Michael Moore liberal, you won't like this film. At all. Don't bother going. Otherwise, to varying degrees, based mostly on your politics, you will definitely have fun. Make an effort to go. |
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