The End of Comedy

Rating: 3/10 (18 August 2008)

This is an adequate movie. It tries hard. But it can't be much of a comedy because I don't hear myself laughing. It tries to spoof other movies but the humor falls flat. For example, Jack Black is shown as an Eddie Murphy type star who plays all the roles in his movies, whose trademarks are flatulence and obesity. The problem is that the Eddie Murphy movies that are being spoofed are not funny. Neither is the spoof. Another attempted spoof is of the tendency Hollywood has to give Academy Awards to actors who play "retards." The joke is the observation that to play the role correctly (e.g. Rain Man) you have to play it as a "half-retard." Maybe a decent observation. But the setup and the punch line are not funny. As the saying goes, death is easy, comedy is hard. This movie is a living demonstration. As with other movies that make fun of other movies, there is little observational humor. As with other R-rated movies of late, bad language are substitutes for jokes. This movie is overrated. The only reason to see it, is that it is better than the competition. If you are waiting for a good comedy, you need to keep waiting.