The underrated comedy of 2007

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2011)

The opening scene of Hot Rod feels like it's warming up for a Lonely Island tune to be played. That is sort of how the whole movie feels. Like one big music video. An enjoyable one that is a lot of fun, and has a different kind of humor. Lonely Island type humor. Hot Rod is about an aspiring stuntman named Rod Kimble (Samberg) who, in honor of his late father, creates ramps with his lackluster crew (Fisher, McBride, Taccone, Wilson) and jumps them with his moped.
His step-father (McShane) is in need of a heart transplant, so him and his crew participate in jumping fifteen full size school buses and plan to raise $50,000 so Frank can have the surgery. Along the way, they run into obstacles, and minor things test their friendship. But friendship wins every time as one would expect.
Hot Rod is a homage to Evel Knievel, and even knows how to poke fun at itself. In one scene, the announcer at the stadium says something like "We must raise $50,000 for Rod's step-father's conveniently priced surgery." The story itself knows it is nothing new, but it tackles it as if it was.
The Lonely Island is a comedy band on Saturday Night Live who make "Digital Shorts" and Music Videos that either poke fun at a certain style, or are just goofy little clips. They have released two studio albums, but they did that after the release of this movie so not everyone knew who Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer (the director of Hot Rod), and Jorma Taccone were.
I had a lot of fun with the crew in the film. Especially with Jorma Taccone's character. The whole crew clicked every time they were on screen. They were goofy and enjoyable. Rainn Wilson, from Superbad, also has a supporting role as one of the member's from the crew and it's hard to hate him when he's playing the character he is.
Hot Rod's humor isn't hard to get or like. You just need to have a good sense of it. The whole movie seems like it could be made into a music video with the title The Ballad of Rod Kimble. Pretty much every piece of comedy they bring to the table works, and it makes this comedy pretty cool beans.
Starring: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Rainn Wilson, Isla Fisher, Danny R. McBride, and Ian McShane. Directed by: Akiva Schaffer.