Wild Hogs (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
4 middle-aged friends decide to take a road trip from Cincinnati to the west coast in order to escape their tedious, boring lives in 'Wild Hogs', a comedy directed by Walt Becker. Hopping onto their motorcycles, these 'Wild Hogs' tear up some road & eventually land in New Mexico, not knowing that the bar belongs to the Del Fuegos, a kick-ass biker gang. They steal one of the Hogs' bikes, & our 4 protagonists for a plan to retrieve it. This film starts humorously & ends strong, but the middle bored me to tears. Maybe I watched it amid the wrong crowd. But it seemed like most characters talk & talk with little or no comedic significance.
We meet Doug (Tim Allen). He's a dentist who's bored with his uneventful existence and is sad that he can't connect with his teenage son. Bobby (Martin Lawrence) is an aspiring writer who really has nothing to do other than be henpecked by his unbelievably annoying wife. Dudley (William H. Macy) is a shy, geek-ish computer programmer who hopes to reel in the ladies by way of technological advances; they don't work. And Woody (John Travolta) is getting divorced by his top-model wife, leaving him bankrupt. In a quest for freedom, they hop on their bikes & off they go. But many incidents halt their testosterone-filled journey (minor auto accidents, gastro-intestinal problems, homosexual police officers, etc.). But it's Del Fuego's Jack (Ray Liotta) who gives them the most trouble.
In an act of escape, Woody cuts the fuel pipes of Del Fuego's bikes which kick-starts a catastrophic fire (destroying their bar in the process). Down the road, in a town named Madrid, Dudley falls for local diner owner, Maggie (Marisa Tomei). Can he overcome his shortcomings and impress her? Would they be able to maintain a long distance relationship? More importantly, when the Del Fuegos make their way to Madrid, what kind of havoc will they wreak upon our Hogs?
You know, I didn't dislike this movie, at all. The premise is funny. I chuckled sporadically. It gets better as it goes. Travolta & Macy are engaging, here. But the film, itself, is awful. The few laughs I had cannot supersede how bad I think this movie (and its script) truly is. As for a Peter Fonda cameo ... I was not wild about Easy Rider, so I don't care about his insignificant scene. I suspect that had I'd seen this in a theater full of punch-drunk friends & family, and a crowd of escapist middle-agers, I'd find the movie to be more entertaining than it really is; but alas, this wasn't so.
I guess the majority of other critics were right. This isn't supposed to be Oscar-caliber filmmaking here, but I thought ther'd be a better effort put forth. The 4 actors involved lend a strong cohesive presence on screen, but they don't thrive individually. Do people really laugh at ANYTHING nowadays? Do people have so short a memory as to forget what true witty comedy is really all about? Brainless slapstick humor is all people need to bust-a-gut, it seems. Then again, everyone has different guidelines for what they find 'amusing'. Kudos to you if you can stomach the deadpan jokes. Apparently, lots of people do.
We meet Doug (Tim Allen). He's a dentist who's bored with his uneventful existence and is sad that he can't connect with his teenage son. Bobby (Martin Lawrence) is an aspiring writer who really has nothing to do other than be henpecked by his unbelievably annoying wife. Dudley (William H. Macy) is a shy, geek-ish computer programmer who hopes to reel in the ladies by way of technological advances; they don't work. And Woody (John Travolta) is getting divorced by his top-model wife, leaving him bankrupt. In a quest for freedom, they hop on their bikes & off they go. But many incidents halt their testosterone-filled journey (minor auto accidents, gastro-intestinal problems, homosexual police officers, etc.). But it's Del Fuego's Jack (Ray Liotta) who gives them the most trouble.
In an act of escape, Woody cuts the fuel pipes of Del Fuego's bikes which kick-starts a catastrophic fire (destroying their bar in the process). Down the road, in a town named Madrid, Dudley falls for local diner owner, Maggie (Marisa Tomei). Can he overcome his shortcomings and impress her? Would they be able to maintain a long distance relationship? More importantly, when the Del Fuegos make their way to Madrid, what kind of havoc will they wreak upon our Hogs?
You know, I didn't dislike this movie, at all. The premise is funny. I chuckled sporadically. It gets better as it goes. Travolta & Macy are engaging, here. But the film, itself, is awful. The few laughs I had cannot supersede how bad I think this movie (and its script) truly is. As for a Peter Fonda cameo ... I was not wild about Easy Rider, so I don't care about his insignificant scene. I suspect that had I'd seen this in a theater full of punch-drunk friends & family, and a crowd of escapist middle-agers, I'd find the movie to be more entertaining than it really is; but alas, this wasn't so.
I guess the majority of other critics were right. This isn't supposed to be Oscar-caliber filmmaking here, but I thought ther'd be a better effort put forth. The 4 actors involved lend a strong cohesive presence on screen, but they don't thrive individually. Do people really laugh at ANYTHING nowadays? Do people have so short a memory as to forget what true witty comedy is really all about? Brainless slapstick humor is all people need to bust-a-gut, it seems. Then again, everyone has different guidelines for what they find 'amusing'. Kudos to you if you can stomach the deadpan jokes. Apparently, lots of people do.