Not Remotely Funny

Rating: 1/10 (28 October 2008)

Having heard and seen the multitude of great reviews for this, my wife and I attended expecting a laugh riot. However, despite what I'd heard, this movie was not remotely funny. I might've chuckled once or twice - my wife made not a peep. The audience we saw it with - in a theater that was about half full - chuckled here and there, though, not consistently and never with the entire crowd.
Frankly, this is a poor film on every level. Setting aside the so-called controversy - Robert Downey in black face! Ben Stiller playing mentally retarded! - what exactly was the point? Lots of big name actors with almost nothing to do - I wonder what attracted Jack Black to this film, as he's left with pretty much nothing to do, except roll around in his underwear. Matthew McConaghey is wasted in the stereotypically slimy agent role and Tom Cruise goes way over the top with his bald hat and fat suit. I've seen comments that this is the movie that's going to revive Cruise's career - my guess is, is that this will be the final nail in the coffin.
When I saw the previews for this, I didn't laugh once, but, I thought 'well, it seems like a funny idea.' But, it's not even an original idea - how many movies have we seen that make fun of spoiled Hollywood actors? Talk about an easy target - and, yet, this movie couldn't even get that right. There's seriously nothing here to recommend, unless you convulse with laughter at the thought of Jack Black making fart sounds. Pathetic.