Hot Rod

Plot synopsis:
Throughout his entire life, Rod Kimble has believed his father, now deceased, was a successful and respectable stuntman working for Evel Knievel. He aspires to follow in his father's footsteps and become a famous stuntman himself. Meanwhile, his stepfather Frank fails to respect Rod as a man, often going out of his way to beat him in sparring sessions and mocking his stuntman dream. Rod makes many attempts at landing jumps with his Tomos moped, most of them ending unsuccessfully. After an ill-fated jump attempt at the public pool, he returns home to find out that Frank is in urgent need of a heart transplant. Angry at the thought of his stepfather dying without getting a chance to "smash his face in" and gain his respect, Rod tells his childhood friends Rico, Dave and his half-brother Kevin about his plan to do a jump over the length of fifteen school buses, and give the proceeds to his stepfather's surgery. He also adds Denise, his college-graduate neighbor on whom he has a crush, to his crew.
To promote his stunt and also raise funds, Rod, who "likes to party", works parties, corporate get-togethers, and other events, performing activities such as taping pillows to his body and having a washing machine, suspended by a crane, swing to hit him. Kevin releases a movie using his footage of Rod's stunts and sells over 200 tickets, but everyone at the movie laughs at Rod's expense as the film depicts his failed training attempts. Rod gets angry and throws the theater's projector out of a window, smashing the projectionist's car below. Rod ends up giving up all the money he has raised so far to the projectionist to cover the damages and avoid arrest. Upset, he returns home, where his mother reveals to him that his father was not the stuntman he thought he was. Humiliated, Rod quits the crew and ends his dream to beat up his stepfather, despite his friends' interventions. However, he takes up the jump again when Dave asks Rod to take him to the hospital due to an injury while "trippin' balls" under the influence of acid given to him by his friend Derek. When he does, Dave gives him advice that inspires Rod to apologize to Kevin. As Kevin accepts his apology, he also reveals that Rod's stunt footage has gotten popular through the Internet, and a local AM radio station hosted by Barry Pasternak offers to cover the expenses of the jump.
Rod gets the crew back together and they start setting up for the jump. On the day of the jump, his friends give him a new suit, a rock (to represent extensive pyrotechnic work done by Rico), and a motorbike. He also receives a kiss from Denise, who broke up with Jonathan, her insensitive and callous boyfriend. As Rod jumps off the ramp, the speed of his new motorbike enables him to jump over the buses, but the bike smashes through a stage and goes flying. Rod lands squarely on the ground, and has an unconscious out-of-body experience. When he awakes, Rod, with the help of Kevin and Denise, triumphantly gets up to the applause of the crowd, and sees that the donations have accumulated over $50,000, the cost of Frank's "conveniently priced" surgery. The film ends taking place six months after the events of earning $50,000 as Rod again spars with Frank, in which Rod gains the upper hand and successfully gains his stepfather's respect.

Tags: cult, comedy, entertaining, romantic, flashback

Review:
I just saw the first screening ever of Hot Rod at the Los Angeles Film Festival.As a fan of The Lonely Island, I went into this movie with high expectations.
I think this movie's completely hilarious.It possesses a goofy, charming quality, and has a lot of moments that left me laughing while asking my wife, "what the hell the was that?" It seems to echo a Family Guy style of humor in that regard.
There was an obvious (and effective) effort to give each character a real personality, quirks and all.In the end, I suggest you keep an open mind, sit back and enjoy the utter ridiculousness this movie affords you...and I'll bet you find yourself laughing, even if it's in spite of yourself..
I am middle-aged guy whose not into early Adam Sandler, or Napoleon Dynamite type comedies, and this movie had me laughing hard.
I saw one summary that said it would have been better with Will Ferrell...I've enjoyed everything Will Ferrell has done lately, but Andy Samberg was perfect for this movie.
Being that sly, witty and subtle comedy is taking over the box office(The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, etc)it's safe to say that plain old silly farce is having a hard time reaching the same audience.Steve Martin made The Jerk a hit, with his genius way of creating a character who was so naive and stupid yet easy to relate to.
Be that as it may, he does it successfully and with such a delightful awkwardness that it may put Martin to shame(no offense Steve).Although Hot Rod starts off a bit slow, with those watching feeling that it may not come out of its slump, it progresses into a laugh out loud comedy that will have you literally howling.
Hot Rod is a film about a (pretty terrible) young stuntman who's objective is to raise enough money to save his dying step-dad by means of a life saving operation.
This little quirk and more are what make Hot Rod a little more satisfying than other films in its genre, and, despite some rather obvious jokes and a criminally underused Will Arnett, it's well worth watching..
An absolutely hilarious film guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.Andy Samberg (from Saturday Night Live) plays Rod Kimble an aspiring stuntman trying to live up to his dead father's legacy, unfortunately he lacks the necessary aspect: any talent whatsoever.
But backed by supportive friends.Along with Lonely Island best friends Akiva Shaffer as director and Jorma Taccone as his step-brother team up to create this great comedy equals pure awesomeness!
I would love to live in a town like that.And after this movie you probably won't be able to look at stunting or mopeds the same way again.Be sure to rent or buy this movie and the extras are pretty awesome."Life is pain - we've got to scrape the joy from it every chance we get.".
Its been a while that i have come across a comedy movie as light hearted as this one.I think this movie caters to all genres of audience and the best part is that you don't have to drag the movie storyline home and ponder over it.Its got a feel-good attitude to it and has got a simple storyline.
but I laughed a lot more in this movie then any comedy to come out in a long time.
The movie is definitely a movie for a certain type of viewer..IE: People who enjoy a "silly/stupid" genre of comedies.
A good performance, a Hilarious Andy Samberg and cast, and the beautiful Isla Fisher is always nice to watch.
I saw Hot Rod a while ago at a screening and I have to say it is the most funny movie ever.
The lonely islands Akiva Schaffer directs while Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg star, this dream trio completely perfects the movie.
Keep your expectations low, have a good time with the stupid stunts and the middle of the road soft rock soundtrack.Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) wants to be like his late father a stuntman who worked with Evel Knievel.
Rod just wants his stepfather's approval.When Frank needs life saving heart surgery, Rod and his friends decide to raise the money by performing a dangerous stunt.Hot Rod is a goofy movie, not too funny but its heart is in the right place..
Seriously this is the funniest movie I have seen since "Wedding Crashers." The trailers do not do this film justice...in fact, although I am a huge Andy Samberg fan, I did not want to see this movie because the trailers looked utterly ridiculous.
If you're a fan of Samberg's website with SNL writers, Jorma and Akiva you will totally appreciate the crazy humor.It has great memorable lines that I'm sure people will be quoting for years to come and laughs non-stop.
the film was everything it needed to be, and other than The Simpsons Movie i thought it was the best comedy of the summer!.
Shaun Munro's Reviews (ShaunMunro.co.uk):Hot Rod, quite simply, is one of the strangest, most offbeat comedies to come our way since Napoleon Dynamite (a film which, I hasten to add, I wasn't terribly fond of upon first viewing).
Filled with irreverent gags, and so-called "random" interludes of "humour", Hot Rod is a curiosity of a comedy.It becomes clear early on that much of the laughs to be sought in Hot Rod are physical, beginning with an impressive, and surprisingly funny (considering how often it was shown in trailers) instance where our protagonist fails a stunt and pays for it in rather brutal spades.Whilst I did end up ultimately enjoying Hot Rod somewhat, I must admit that I was incredibly apprehensive that this would just end up as another offbeat screwball comedy that, were you to show even a pinch of contempt for it, you would be lambasted for "not getting it" (see: Napoleon Dynamite).
Perhaps this was just the warming up stage for me, as there were parts of this film later on that had me laughing heartily.The basic premise of Hot Rod is that Rod Kimble (Samberg) is an amateur stuntman, and is suddenly informed that his abusive step-father Frank (McShane) is in dire need of an extortionately expensive heart-transplant.
His character is one you can love to hate, and they gave Arnett some of the best lines of the film, such as, after running over a raccoon, proclaiming "the raccoon wouldn't have stopped for us", before laughing heartily.
This isn't his best work (that honour would be bestowed to Mitch Hurwitz' brilliant Arrested Development), but it's still a good turn.The rest of Hot Rod is essentially a dense collection of wild set pieces, from impromptu dance numbers and money-making montages, to faux poignant interludes, to a curious Asian man appearing virtually out of nowhere.
It is worth noting, though, that these moments get very, very close to becoming tiresome by the film's end, and by the time the "cool beans" montage comes around (by which the characters utter these two words over and over until they lose all meaning), I was close to holding my head in my hands.
Yes, Hot Rod is very predictable, but that didn't stop it being an entertaining ride, with some great performances from Arnett and McShane, and some hit and miss humour, but when it hit, it hit hard.
First off, to give you some idea of my taste in movies...2007 Comedies I enjoyed: Superbad, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, Blades Of Glory 2007 Comedies I hated: Evan Almighty, The Brothers Solomon, Good Luck ChuckI should have followed my first instinct and turned off "Hot Rod" after I got to about the 20 minute mark.
The script is absolutely brutal - I have no idea how this monstrosity managed to crack 6 on IMDb. Any one older than 10 years old who enjoyed this must be some kind of mental defective.This doesn't come close to anything with Will Farrell and it's clear that Andy Samberg can't carry anything longer than a 5 to 10 minute sketch on YouTube or SNL.
I believe that it is because the humor or not, in fact, brainless, but takes wit to another level by making fun of clichés and reminding us all that at one point in all of our lives, before we were conditioned to laugh only at black & white jokes or reasons why dates never work out, poop was funny!
And then a movie like Hot Rod comes along.
Hot Rod is genuinely funny throughout its entire runtime, and it might have even had more laugh-out-loud moments than The Simpsons Movie.
The very first thing that needs to be stated, however, is that Hot Rod is the most random movie of the entire year, and it might be the most random movie of all time.
Hot Rod has a very awesome cast; Andy Samberg from SNL plays the lead role, the gorgeous Isla Fisher from Wedding Crashers plays Rod's love interest, and the amazing Will Arnett plays the stereotypical vile boyfriend.His whole life, Rod Kimble has wanted only one thing his entire lifeokay, well maybe two things; to become a stuntman, just like his father and to defeat his stepfather in battle.
Rod sets out, with the help of his friends, to earn the money for his stepfather's surgery and win over Denise.The plot is really nonsensical, and the movie is stupid, but what was anyone expecting?
For once, a stupid comedy actually delivered what it promised, unlike the extremely disappointing Napoleon Dynamite, a film that still holds its rightful place as number one on my list of the worst movies of all time.
From its hilarious opening scene to its strangely random and satisfying conclusion, Hot Rod never loses a bit of steam and manages to be a very consistent comedy.
The cast is perfect, from Sissy Spacek to Will Arnett, and the directing and writing are pure gold.Hot Rod is a movie that I definitely look forward to seeing again.
As said in the summary, watching paint dry would be a lot more fun than wasting 88 minutes of your life on this pathetic and poorly written movie.In the top ten worst movies I have ever seen...
If you prefer to watch a movie that is a HORRIBLE and complete rip off of Napoleon Dynamite with a ridiculously predictable ending then go right ahead and waste your hard earned money.Giving this movie a "1" is being VERY polite.THIS MOVIE SUCKS BALLS.Okay.
The acting was terrible, the coiled pile that they refer to as a script was nonsensical, and the movie just overall wasted my life.One of my friends recommended it, he also recommend "eastbound and down." I will never, ever, ever, trust one of his recommendations again, even though we share such favorites as "tango and cash" and "demolition man." Once i saw danny mcbride, i should have run.
Hot rod is definitely one of the funniest movies of the last 10 years and a great way to spend 88 minutes by laughing you ass out.
I hadn't seen Andy Samberg in any film before this but decided to watch Hot Rod because it was regularly popping up in some forum threads where people were recommending comedies.
But then you realize that this is like a spoof movie, in that nothing makes sense and fast paced gags that would actually kill or injure a person, now are just there to make sure the audience isn't bored.
The plot of this film was very basic, and could've been more funny if the movie was trimmed down by cutting the stupid jokes and putting more character background, or development.
Even extremely stupid, far-fetched comedies find a way to rope in small amounts of believability in their characters, so the viewer laughs when they do or say something funny.
while there were some funny parts, even one or two laugh out loud parts, this movie fell terribly short of what i would call good.
The characters were unfunny and unlikeable especially Rod. Also I noticed that the way Adam Samberg acted, he tried way too hard and tried acting like Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite.
When viewing a movie as silly as 'Hot Rod,' one must sit back, relax, and alter one's intellectual capacity to a like state  which is, in this case, a state dimwitted enough to endure brainless drivel that has somehow been mistaken for comedy.
Each character is no more interesting than Rod's stick-on mustache, and from the film's opening joke to its ridiculous conclusion, each scene played like a nonsensical, and terribly unfunny, SNL skit  which, with the addition of an extra 85 minutes, is, essentially, what 'Hot Rod' strives to be.The film's star, Andy Samberg, contributed an effort to the screen that observably exerted every last drip-drop of his comedic capabilities.
I expected much better as I feel Andy Samberg is a funny guy from what I have seen of him thus far on SNL.
To make a movie like this work, you need someone like Will Ferrell, who makes you laugh at every scene and puts so much conviction into the role.
Well I liked the flow of this movie and I think Andy Samberg is a funny guy, but the thing is this movie just isn't funny and most of the humor comes from acting awkward and trying act retarded as possible.
And as bad as Underdog is ( my four year old loved it), Hot Rod makes it look like Oscar worthy material.
I would pay money to have my time back for watching this terrible movie.
With these and other movies like it,Im always half way expecting the director to walk into the frame and announce "sorry only kidding, you didn't actually think we were going release this crap?".
Hot Rod has some pretty solid jokes in it, but the movie as a whole comes off as half-baked.
Watched Hot Rod because I now liked Andy, and this movie was really funny!
Schaffer shows he's an excellent comedy film maker and I hope he doesn't fall down the same rabbit hole / eternal loop as Sandler did after his golden period.Andy Samberg is enjoyable as always, and the supporting characters and cast are fantastic.
There is one thing from my youth that I still have fond memories of, and that's watching Hot Rod. This movie ages so well, and it's because it doesn't care about being relevant or trendy, it just cares about being stupid and funny, and it's both of those things.
This movie is funny all the way through in so many old school, new school, and innovative humor types.
The ending is predictable, but most comedy movies today are.All in all, if you like some new and innovative forms of film, and you like funny acts jokes and characters, YOU should SEE this movie =).
They needed funny quotes, absurd situations, and awesome characters, and this movie at one point actually made me puke a little bit in my mouth because of how hard i was laughing.
Every other scene feels as though its attempting to win laughs by another set of means.At its core "Hot Rod" is a Saturday Night Live movie as it was produced by Lorne Michaels and the members of the Lonely Island group behind the show's popular digital shorts all have their hands on it: Samberg as the star, Schaffer the director and Jorma Taccone in a supporting role as Rod's half brother Kevin.
This movie was even better than I expected.I liked a few 2007 comedies.
Expect good performances from the Lonely Island guys and be prepared to laugh.To wrap things up, I think anyone who is a fan of offbeat comedy like Napoleon Dynamite, Freddy Got Fingered, or Superbad should give this one a viewing.
Andy did try his best to look 'dumb' in the movie, but didn't succeed like Jon Heder did.Andy was funny at times, but didn't impress me.
HOT ROD is a a garden variety of absurd, weird and obscure laugh-out loud comedy that makes fun of itself and the 60s/70s stunt genre from which it is birthed.
I think Hot Rod is one of the funniest films in recent history and that's saying quite a lot considering Super Bad and Borat are in that category.No, it's not the funniest movie I've seen but its damn close.I love its absurd and sometimes weird and obscure humor (humor that I think will float over the heads of the old generation).
If you like Will Ferrel movies you'll love this but don't expect laugh out humour all the way through as I said it is childish sometimes but maybe thats why it's so enjoyable..
That made me think that maybe the main characters weren't as young as I thought, just a little immature.Hot Rod is a pretty typical comedy.
McShane is good in it and I really enjoyed the small turn from Parnell (30 Rock's Dr Spaceman).Hot Rod is not a great film by any means but it does have its charm.
maybe it's just me,but while watching this movie,i was reminded of Napoleon Dynamite,which i thought was a depressing bore.while i don't think this movie was as bad,i still didn't really enjoy it.i found it unfunny,and not amusing.i didn't really care about the characters.i didn't get the jokes,and i don't understand the appeal of the movie,but that's just me.if you liked Napoleon Dynamite,you might like Hot Rod.for some reason,the last 20 minutes or so became mildly interesting,though i'm not sure why.Sissy Spacek and Ian McShane are in this movie,and i think their talents deserve better than this.this probably sounds a bit harsh,but the most i can give this movie is a 3/10.
The blend of Stupidity from the Characters and slapstick comedy was very funny and I laughed much more than I felt I should've at a guy falling down a hill.The dumb comments by his friends, and the great dialogue also really added to the film.