A Futile and Stupid Gesture is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film, based on Josh Karp's book of the same name, directed by David Wain, and written by Michael Colton and John Aboud. The film stars Will Forte as comedy writer Douglas Kenney, during the rise and fall of "National Lampoon". The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, and was released on Netflix on January 26, 2018.