Extremely funny silly movie, and moving!

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2009)

I really really wanted to give this movie a full 10 out of 10. I really wanted to love it more. My main reason for doing so:
The script is a 10 out of 10. Pam Brady did a fantastic job of writing silly one-liners and multi-line gags. I laughed at every one of them. Even stealing a famous gag from Family Guy but using it appropriately doubled the laughs precisely because I knew it was a rip-off of a famous FG gag.
The acting is 10 of 10. Nothing wrong with what any of the actors did.
I thought most of the deleted scenes were very funny too. I applaud the editor for leaving them out, nonetheless, to keep the pace up of the film.
But, for some reason, I felt this movie required some kind of bigger production value. The problem is, I am not sure what. Oddly, the only thing I thought that MIGHT give the movie more bang or splash was changing the casting. This is where it gets embarrassing saying that, even though an actor does their craft perfectly, they still cannot change themselves.
For example, suppose Rod Kimble were played by Will Ferrell, as "larger-than-life" a character as Ron Burgundy is. Now, I am not saying Will Ferrell would have been a better choice for this movie for the role of Rod Kimble, but I kept feeling while watching "Hot Rod" that it felt like an excellent movie put on by high school students.
Anyway, I do encourage all of you to give this movie a 10 out of 10 if you write a comment on it.
I did not want to detract from the 10 out of 10 for the script, because humor requires intelligence (on the part of the viewer/listener, I mean here). Not one joke or gag in "Hot Rod" is racist or sexist or obscene, or makes reference to the absurdity of racism or sexist, for those bothered by other great films such as "Borat". Hence, comedy is MUCH harder to write than any serious drama, MOSTLY for this one reason.
For that, I maintain a 10 out of 10, even though I felt the female characters were not given any silly comedic gags or lines, except for the "tai chi" scene with Denise. The female characters were a little bit underused.
I also appreciate the "continued humor during the serious moments" style of writing: i.e. the character gets serious, but what she/he says is still outrageous and funny to the audience.