Humor is subjective. What may be funny to one person may not be remotely funny to another. So I have puzzled on how to suggest comedies. But then it came to me. What if I pared down the type of comedies and cater them to the specific viewer? Again, I cannot stress enough that all may not agree with me and that is ok. So here we go…
For the campy lover, you got âBarb and Star Go to Vista del Mar.â In this On-Demand selection, Kristen Wiig and Anne Mumolo wrote and act as the main duo, two Midwestern women who lose their jobs. In a quest to get their lives back in order, they take a Florida vacation. This was the premise I was sold; just comic hijinks. However, there are elements that werenât disclosed going in. An evil plot to destroy the town by Wiig in a dual role on par with Dr. Evil from the âAustin Powersâ films. Like stated before, this is bonkers and flamboyant. Some jokes fall incredibly flat towards the beginning. As film progresses though, things pick up and the scenarios gave myself a chuckle or two. If Jamie Dornan was looking to kill any lingering stink left from the âFifty Shadesâ trilogy, this did so.
For lovers of nostalgia, you have âComing 2 Americaâ on Amazon Prime. Households of the 80s and 90s grew up watching the classic Eddie Murphy comedy. Now some thirty years later the cast has been reassembled to continue the story. And did they mean the entire original cast, down to the palace servants. I half expected to see Eric LaSalle or Samuel L. Jackson to show up. Murphy and Arsenio Hall rely on their multiple character roles peppered throughout the film. The barbershop keepers and the raunchy preacher are all reprieved. Of the new characters, Jermaine Fowler is the whole reason for this film existing. His role is as an heir sired unbeknownst to us during the events of the first film; his mother played by SNLâs Leslie Jones. She is not the only inclusion here as Colin Jost and Tracy Morgan appears. With all the lampshades placed on the film, it all makes for a fun nostalgic trip but not as good as the first.
Going further down the rabbit hole of the past, Amazon Prime also has âBorat Subsequent Moviefilm.â Another movie sequel, we are given what happened to our lovable yet deplorable foreigner. However here, it weirdly works. Sasha Baron-Cohen shows us how Borat must come back to America in a mission to give his daughter to Mike Pence. Or he will be, as he puts it, execute. If that doesnât sound funny to you, then stay away. The political commentary is turned up to eleven here. That was always there in the first film, but more so here. Cohenâs brand of gross-out and irreverent humor works more in our current situation. Maria Bakalova is excellent as his daughter, impressive seeing as English is her second language but her comic timing is more than impeccable. The final part of the movie is what kills the film for me, and makes it really hard to recommend.
Now this is what put me in a pickle. As a bid for dark humor, I sought out âI Care A Lotâ on Netflix. After watching the trailer, that seemed to be the tone we were getting. And donât get me wrong, it is there but only to the slightest degree. Rosamund Pike hasnât been this prickly since âGone Girl.â Her win at the Golden Globes is well deserved as a professional ward over elderly people who extorts and games the system. Peter Dinklage is great as a Russian mobster whose mother(Diane Wiest) is targeted by Pike. Only problem, this movie takes itself too seriously at times. When you think it may go down in the grand satirical tradition of âNetworkâ or âThank You For Smokingâ, the film turns into a thriller where no one is the hero. Pass! Happy viewing, all the same.
