I waited a full 24 hours after seeing this movie to write this review because something did not sit right with me. The premise of the movie is completely ridiculous and requires a suspension of disbelief that I do not possess. I will go so far as to say that the premise of this movie is the single worst premise I have ever seen. But, with that being said, I liked the movie and now I am going to tell you why.

First of all, if you spend the entire movie wondering why you recognize that one guy (like I did) that is because you are looking at Damon Wayans, Jr. He is the son, and spitting image of, Damon Wayans. So, yes, that guy does look familiar. But it isn’t exactly the guy you think it is. This version of Damon Wayans doesn’t have that comedic edge his father has, but he is still very funny.

There is no need to discuss plot or characters with this movie because neither are very important at all. There are good jokes in this movie and there are bad jokes. Damon Wayans, Jr.’s character getting the nickname “Chang” is a very bad and overplayed joke. But the scene where Chang and his partner are reading back a texting exchange between two women in female voices is very funny.

This movie has the makings of a cult classic written all over it. It does not have any lines that people will be quoting for years to come, but it has plenty of good visual jokes that will entertain an audience. It has a plot, but it is really just a bunch of jokes strung together by a thin story that we have seen a thousand times before. As a respected piece of cinema, this movie fails miserably. As a vehicle for entertainment, it succeeds on several levels.

I think one of the reasons why I have such a hard time calling this movie a good movie is because of the liberties it takes with common sense. Most of the activities that the movie is based on are just ridiculous and the reactions by many of the characters to what is going on are unlikely at best. Normally, those would be the elements of a great comedy. But there is just too many blunt force blows to common sense to allow the movie to be passed off as a decent film. So we are left with a potential cult movie that is good for a few laughs.

As badly as I portray this movie, I would see it again and I may even buy the blu-ray when it comes out. Mind you, I won’t be waiting in line to get the blu-ray. But I probably won’t pass it up when it is sitting on a shelf as I go walking by. I would recommend that you see this movie at least once, but you would not be remiss if you waited until it came out on cable or pay-per-view.

One of the things that is hard to miss is the excellent comedic timing between the two main characters. Once again, a lot of it is forced and hard to really accept. But when it clicks, and it clicks a lot, it is fun to watch. The jokes, at times, are strong enough to get past the bad premise and deliver some decent comedy. These days, decent comedy is very hard to find and it was nice to see a little old school delivery in this movie.

This movie is not gross and it does not rely on fart or penis jokes, which is the calling card of so much of the bad Seth Rogen-ish comedy that is out there these days. Well, there is one penis joke, but it is actually kind of funny. What this movie does accomplish is to put reality way to the side for a little while and deliver some comedy that makes you laugh out loud. At the end of the day, laughing out loud is always worth the price of admission.

Rating: 1 ½ out of 5

George N Root III is a movie fanatic and is depressed that the drive-ins are almost closed for the season. Start looking for classic movie reviews next week as we try and kill time between now and next April when the drive-ins open again.

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