Posted by
Playful Walrus on Monday, October 06, 2008 12:28:38 PM
You should, too. I have been a paid movie reviewer, but this isn’t going to be quite like my other reviews, because this is an openly political movie and I’m an openly political blogger.
People go to the movies to have an emotional experience. That was what I saw an expert on screenwriting demonstrate when he went over the list of history’s top grossing films. They weren’t all masterpieces in cinema, but the audience had an emotional experience while watching those films in the theater.
"An American Carol" is not a cinematic masterpiece, but it certainly did deliver an emotional experience. I – like the rest of the audience – was laughing throughout the picture. I was laughing so hard at times I was crying,
Then there was a sequence that brought tears to my eyes for another reason. Jon Voight’s poignant and dead-serious portrayal of President George Washington led into a moment I did not expect. It was a powerful and solemn moment in a movie that usually gets it point across with over-the-top silliness and slapstick. Sometimes the film tickles, sometimes it delivers a noogie, and sometimes it swings and connects with a baseball bat.
As you probably know by now, the film plays on A Christmas Carol by having a character spoofing Michael Moore (Michael Malone, as played very well by Kevin Farley) visited first by JFK, then General Patton (Kelsey Grammer doing a bang-up performance through much of the film), President Washington, and the Angel of Death (country music star/Celebrity Apprentice stand-out Trace Adkins). Through these encounters, Malone learns to appreciate America the need, at times, to go to war, including warring against Islamofascist terrorists.
Not only are we treated to a thorough slapdown (literally) of Moore, but a blistering portrayal of intolerant Leftist college professors, a derisive mocking of mindless mob protestors, a silly send-up of ACLU lawyers, and, of course, a poke to the eyes of terrorists. Rosie O’Donnell even gets the kick in the rear, as does former President Jimmy Carter. More importantly, though, our men and women in the military are portrayed as heroic.
I’ve always been a fan of good parody and satire, and David Zucker is one of the kings of bringing that to cinema, usually with a thorough dose of slapstick. Zucker is in a good position to deliver this film. Having long been part of the Hollywood game, he’s been steeped in the ideology and tactics of the Left. However, his villains have often been Soviet Communists, Nazis, and Islamofascist terrorists, and over the years, seeing how the Left has treated Israel and has responded to 9/11, and how the Left has responded to his concerns, he was finally driven to make this film.
Zucker had already opened himself up to vitriol from the Left. But the various other people part of this project are opening themselves up to all sorts of trouble from their Hollywood peers, and probably a few secretive “way to go!” encouragements from closeted Hollywood patriots. Lord only knows the grief the extremely talented David Alan Grier is getting for his biting portrayal of a slave in the war-between-the-states-never-happened alternate reality. Notice that the film is not playing on all that many screens, and was distributed by Vivendi (a minority owner of NBC Universal) instead of one of the major Hollywood studios.
Which brings me back to my suggestion that you go see this film in the theater. Not only will it enhance your experience to hear strangers laughing along with you, but your dollar-vote will send a message to Hollywood.
Like I said, the film is not a masterpiece. Some things could have been done better, but that’s true for most films. I found some of the crude language unnecessary, but it wasn’t pervasive. I would pay to see this film again, if for no other reason to catch some of the things I must have missed the first time around. As is typical with Zucker, you have to keep your eyes open for quick sight gags that are often in the background, and the same goes for keeping your ears open for some of the auditory humor. For example… listen closely for what the goosestepping Nazi soldiers are reciting.
"An American Carol" will not get good reviews from Leftists, who make up most of the Hollywood community. But it is definitely worth seeing.