Lukewarm Rod (spoilers may follow)

Rating: 5/10 (18 August 2007)

I posted this on the message board, too.
Being a slightly-larger-than-average-sized fan of The Lonely Island, I assumed this would be full of fun and laughs. Full of inside jokes and references to the web site's content. Something more than a thrusting dance and a poorly delivered "Hoobastank." I wanted dance numbers with raps, I wanted "we love each other" jokes... I wanted www.thelonelyisland.com. What I got, however, was Napoleon Dynamite mixed with some weird Family Guy-esquire moments followed by sections/the main plot of every movie Will Ferrell has done in the last 4 years.
Jorma's part was too small, to say the least. He had under 15 lines in the whole movie. He wasn't very involved. I loves me the Jorm, and I needed more! Samberg... tried. I think they were just going for too broad an audience. I hated Napoleon Dynamite, and it appears that the grand public loved it. "Let's go with an awkward teenager doing punch dancing in the forest, because that looks funny!" I think I really would have enjoyed this movie if they did it in the spirit of TLI shorts. This could have been so much.
The plot was kind of obvious. Maybe I was expecting too much? I don't know... I knew where each scene was going for the most part. They tried. I just want to like it.
Usually, I'll walk into a movie and will know within the first 5 minutes if I'll love it or hate it. I'm so rarely on the fence. I was trying so hard to like it. The first ten minutes, I laughed along with the (very small) audience. I just couldn't anymore after a few scenes. I was watching Napoleon friggin' Dynamite.
Maybe seeing any movie with a small audience is a bad experience? I tend to like the movies a lot more when the audience is more into it. Movie-going is a good experience when there's a good energy in the audience. Not that these people weren't loving it, they just... didn't drag me into it.
There were only two jokes I can think of that were unpredictable. One of them was hilariously witty. The other was just a cool editing thing that Akiva threw in. I liked both parts, but in a 2-hour-ish movie, that's just not enough.
They really should stick to 6-minute-shorts and rap songs, because I love them for that.
I honestly shouldn't want my money back from these guys. Andy, Jorma and Akiva have been great to me... I just... I don't know. I feel cheated.
See it if you will. I certainly expected more, Akiva! 5 out of 10.
-Ben