It's Good for a Few Laughs but POPSTAR Hasn't Got a Lot of Substance

Rating: 7/10 (11 September 2017)

It was only a matter of time before the Lonely Island guys came out with a music mockumentary; I just expected it to be about Lonely Island. Nope. Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer instead bring us into the world of fictional international pop icon Conner4real (Samberg). The movie is constructed as a behind-the-scenes/concert film for Conner as he prepares to release the follow-up album to his massive hit solo debut. Conner was originally a member of boy band/hip-hop trio the Style Boyz but broke off on his own when his ego became too much to handle for the trio's writer, Lawrence (Schaffer). Now Conner tours the world with the band's third member, Owen (Taccone), as his DJ while Lawrence has retired to a quiet life of farming and subpar wood carving. Conner's second album debuts with such controversial hits as "Equal Rights" and "Bin Laden" and becomes an instant flop. Unable to cope with failure and surrounded by useless sycophants, Conner life begins a downward spiral and Owen believes a Style Boyz reunion would be the best thing for everyone. Unfortunately, Conner and Lawrence didn't exactly part on the best of terms and getting the two of them in a room to talk, much less reunite for a performance, is going to be near impossible. POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING is an improv- laden mockumentary in the same vein of THIS IS SPINAL TAP but never achieves its level of awesomeness, but it has got its share of laughs.
I enjoyed POPSTAR for what it is but watching it has made me realize how much I miss normal scripted comedies. Improv films can be real hit-or-miss and this one is no different, but I'd say the scales tip in favor of the funnier bits. There aren't a whole lot of hilarious moments that'll be with you too long after the movie is over, but you're bound to get some chuckles from it if this is your type of comedy. Personally, my favorite gag comes about halfway through the movie when Conner's manager Harry (Tim Meadows, excellent as usual) is breaking some bad news to the singer over some breakfast mimosas and Conner has a rough moment, asking the documentarians to kill the cameras for a minute. The video cuts out but we keep the audio as their tender conversation quickly turns when a wandering bee becomes a nuisance and quickly escalates to a battle of life and death. That was probably the one time the movie got a solid laugh from me. The rest is a bit of a mixed bag but fans of Samberg and the Lonely Island material from "Saturday Night Live" shouldn't be disappointed. There are plenty of new songs created for the movie and Conner4real and some of them are pretty good, but there's nothing on the level of "J*zz in My Pants", "I'm on a Boat", or "Motherlover". This is why I was hoping it'd be a mockumentary about Lonely Island: great music catalog.
Since it's a "documentary", it's filled with cameos from music artists who've got a sense of humor and contributed interview snippets including RZA, Mariah Carey, and Ringo Starr. You can also expect the usual cavalcade of comedic talent filling out the rest of the case, such as the aforementioned Tim Meadows as Conner's manager and Sarah Silverman as his press agent. There is plenty of talent on display here; Samberg and company pulled out all the stops to surround him with high quality cast-mates. So even if the comedy isn't your style, you can spend the duration of the movie tracking the endless stream of cameos. Otherwise, it's exactly what you would expect for a Lonely Island mockumentary. If that's your thing, you'll probably find a reason to watch and I'm sure you'll enjoy it fine. If not, this movie isn't likely going to win you over. POPSTAR is what it is and to me it's a fun piece of throwaway entertainment that might've aspired to SPINAL TAP levels and fell short. The Apatow style of improv that's permeated comedies in the last ten years is good for a quick laugh but most of the movies of this sort are quickly forgotten and I'm sure POPSTAR, as amusing as it can be, will probably fall into that category.