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Freddy Got Fingered (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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587 comments in total

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99 out of 138 people found the following comment useful :-
Not nearly as horrible as you've been led to believe, 1 June 2001
Author: uglykidmatt (uglykidmatt@hotmail.com) from Orange, CA

Comedy is perhaps the most subjective of all forms of entertainment. Judy Carter, in her wonderfully insightful "Stand-Up Comedy: The Book", summed it up best: "Some people will laugh at a guy slipping on a banana peel. Some people will only laugh at Hitler slipping on a banana peel." What kills with one crowd will die with the next, and no two people will laugh at the same thing for the same reason. Comedy, in many ways, says more about the laughers than the comedians themselves, and it is no wonder that comedy shop talk is filled with violent images ("If I don't bomb, I'm gonna murder that audience"). Comedy, to put it mildly, is DANGEROUS.

"Freddy Got Fingered", Tom Green's scabrous black comedy, illustrates this principle to a T. Since his earliest days on Canadian cable-access television, Green has based his career on pushing the envelope. Like Andy Kaufman, his bizarre stunts (many involving animal carcasses and the sexual humiliation of his parents) are primarily about the reaction of both their hapless victims and US, the audience; if you don't step back and consider how you're taking this humor, and why, you're not really getting the whole Green experience. "Freddy" carries this sensibility into a fictional format, giving us the strange tale of a man who lives his life as an experiment in riling people up.

Gord Brody (Green) is a young aspiring cartoonist who fails miserably in his attempt to break into the Hollywood big time. He is forced to move back home with his parents, setting off a titanic battle of wills with his stentorian oaf of a father (Rip Torn), an escalating conflict that involves accusations of child molestation, sausages on strings, elephant penises, horse penises, Green's penis, and really badly made cheese sandwiches.

Of course, all of this story nonsense is just that: nonsense. It serves no function but to provide Green and co-writer Derek Harvie with a framework for grotesque, deliberately shocking set pieces, many of which work surprisingly well. There's a brief sojourn at a stud farm, where Gord lives out an apparently lifelong fantasy, wagging a horse's genitals while yelling "I'm a farmer!" like a drunken barbarian. In another scene, Gord delivers a baby, ripping the bloody umbilical cord with his teeth. He picks up a wheelchair-bound girlfriend (Marisa Coughlin) who gets her jollies by being caned in the legs with a bamboo stick. And there's the wonderful little boy who spends the whole movie getting accidentally brutalized, hit by cars and running into airplane propellers, always with much blood and flying viscera.

Now I know this may not sound that funny, and indeed, "Freddy" has gotten the most dastardly reviews that I think I have ever seen for a major release. Critics don't just hate "Freddy"; they seem personally hurt by the film, as if Green had made the picture just to upset them and get their goat. What they don't seem willing to acknowledge is that Green made the film for EXACTLY that reason, and is getting exactly the reaction he wants. Therefore, his film can be regarded as something of a great success.

Personally, I agree with many of the critics who have described "Freddy" as surrealist. There is no attempt to integrate this action into anything resembling the real world. Gord is not a human being, but rather a collection of characteristics. Green plays him as a bizarrely aggressive man-child, a mishmash of helplessly repeated words and phrases, slack-jawed willful stupidity, and screaming, utterly pointless hysterics. Frankly, I admire this approach to the characterization. After seeing so many recent comedies ruined by the filmmakers' need to make their characters both laughable and likeable (most recently with the stultifying "Joe Dirt"), it is refreshing to see Green so willing to come off as annoying, hateful, cruel, UNLIKEABLE. This lack of relatability allows us to laugh at him without feeling like we're also laughing at ourselves.

I am not making the claim, as some on this page have, that "Freddy Got Fingered" is any kind of masterpiece. Green's direction is not the equal of his acting bravery. The film suffers from too many muddy visuals, and many moments just lie there on the screen, wriggling when they should fly. Still, the film does what it is supposed to. Half the time you're laughing, the other half just staring at the screen in goggle-eyed shock. You may hate "Freddy", you may love it, but either way, you have to admit that you've never seen anything like it before.

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129 out of 221 people found the following comment useful :-
Amazing, 3 October 2005

Author: TheKingCatalyst from United States

This movie, although not solid in plot, is that of comical genius. People are too easily offended by the actions of Tom Green, not able to see the comical genius this movie has. Breaking barriers is comedy, and that is exactly what Tom Green does in this film. The things he does, from jerking off a horse, to pretending to be a deep sea diver are all great ways to get the point across, this movie is something different. People who have any sense of moral value or a tendency to vomit should stay away, but who has moral values anymore? In the end this movie is nothing more then an inspired way of making me laugh. The movie is funny enough as it is sober, I however would suggest you see it stoned or drunk off your ass.

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93 out of 168 people found the following comment useful :-
More like Godard than Farrelly, 9 May 2001

Author: Fustfick from Los Angeles

Freddy Got Fingered may not be the "laughiest" picture of the year, but it is surely the most original. It remindes me more of the challenging work of Godard or Bunuel than of the slew of recent "gross out" comedies that stink up our screens. Illogical and abusurd, ridiculous, funny, and disturbing, I guarantee it is unlike any film you've ever seen.

I sat in the theater, amazed, as Gord Brody (Green) leaves home in a rush on his skateboard...to meet up with his parents at the bus depot. Why is he meeting them there, if they all live together? There at the depot, his dad presents him with a car. Why bother going to the depot if his dad's going to give him a car? Then, after clearly establishing that Gord is going to Hollywood to sell his "cartoons" and after a close up on his new license plate reveals their location to be Oregon...a superimposed map of the coast shows us (ala Raiders of the Lost Arc) Gord's path from Oregon to Hollywood.

Redundant? Of course. And hillarious. Green makes a mockery of tired film cliches and crap mise-en-scene. Then, ten minutes into the movie, it brilliantly deconstructs itself. Anthony Michael Hall (as cartoon mogul Dave Davidson) gripes that Gord's drawings aren't bad...but they just don't make sense, they're not funny, they're stupid, and entertainment needs to be inspirational. Oh does it?

Kudos, Mr. Green, for your uncompromising debut.

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71 out of 128 people found the following comment useful :-
The Biggest Joke, 23 April 2002

Author: fugu_286 from USA

I know, I know I have commented on this film before. But I felt it was worth pointing something out for what its worth. To the people that criticize this film for not having a plot, being a rough patchwork of silly (and sometimes repulsive)scatological gags, let me just say that...

THE JOKE IS ON YOU!

Like the late great Andy Kauffman, Tom Green has consistently relied on his sometimes unsuspecting public for most of his larfs. As a matter of fact, that's why he cancelled his TV show. Too many people had begun to recognize him and he could no longer make them the butt of his jokes. But he had one last prank to play. And "Freddy Got Fingered" is it. Although it has some geniuinely funny scenes (especially the ones featuring Rip Torn) many scenes exist purely for their shock value. It is hard to sympathize with any of the characters in the film and it does get tedious. And this is precisely what Gteen had intended. "FGF" is Green's version of Kauffman's "Great Gatsby" bit. But for those of us who enjoy abstract humor, "FGF" is a godsend. The biggest joke is the fact that the film actually got made and somebody greenlighted this project. The film actually references this in the scene when Gordy presents his Zebra family idea to the producer. Just try to imagine Green pitching his idea to a bunch of suits who've probably never watched his TV show but know from their charts and graphs and statistics that the show is popular among young males. And imagine them forking over the check...

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19 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Above the heads of most, 26 August 2005

Author: chester-frollo from United States

I'll bet that the majority of people who express their hatred this film on the grounds that it is too vulgar had a jolly time sitting through movies like American Pie, Scary Movie, and all that deplorable garbage.

Those films and their vulgarities were incredibly labored and insincere creations designed to pander to hateful stereotypes and equally petty repressed fears and desires of feeble-minded perverts and uneducated teenagers. However, though Freddy Got Fingered contains equal vulgarities, they exist not for their own sake but to serve a greater, dadaistic post-modern vision. This is evident in the structure of the film. Other "gross-out" comedies present their vulgarities with the sober convention, creating a pornographic aura that is shameful instead of funny. The lack of artistic direction in a sea of recycled inspiration never fails to create an uncomfortable confusion as to whether the vulgarities are serving the higher part of our minds that pertains to comedy or meant arouse a repressed sexual perversion (American Pie, for example).

Freddy Got Fingered separates itself from such worthless trash by breaking free from convention and re-appropriating it. Rather than cold and unflinching eye with which hacks such as the Wayans brothers present their vulgarities, Freddy Got Fingered uses innovative editing to de-familiarize the audience to whatever on screen, such as incorporating Sam Peckinpah's "pause-burst-pause" technique in the restaurant scene, or the revolutionary cut from the bleeding child (Tommy) to a closeup of roast beef at an all-American family dinner. It should be mentioned that while Freddy Got Fingered is discussed for it's vulgarities, it makes a point of balancing shock with classical comedic conventions: the majority of the gags in the film consist of non-sequiturs, slapstick, and satire (the main target being dramatic conventions in film, which is achieved through mixed-modalities rather than exploiting the ephemeral icons of pop-culture).

The film's brilliant re-invention of comic film-making technique creates an intellectual framework that invites an oppositional reading to some of the vulgar content on screen. Freddy got Fingered is not a simple presentation of vulgarities, but rather in dialogue with them. The running gag of a child being injured is clearly a parody of the increasing darkness of comedy, and yet it is simultaneously a manifesto, in Tom Green's post-structuralist shattering of our perceptions of taste. It is this self-reflexive nature of the film that transcends its vulgarity, while other "gross-out" films not only fail to do this, but often fall one step lower by depending on extra-textual sources (again, usual ephemeral pop-culture icons).

In conclusion, the equal magnitude of the vulgarities in relatively un-criticized movies such as American Pie and Scary Movie effectively invalidates the most critics' dismissal of the film on the grounds of excess vulgarity. The only difference between Freddy Got Fingered and its other "gross-out" counterparts is the film's original approach to film-making technique. However, I cannot imagine why this is more repugnant to them than the pornographic practice of using conventional film-making to enshrine vulgarities set before the camera (for example: even "Booty Call" has an orchestral score). Perhaps by being the first mainstream film to elevate the lucrative "gross-out" comedy beyond the reach of formulaic film-making, many perceive Freddy Got Fingered as a threat to the tradition, despite the fact that it has liberated conventional film-making techniques from being subjected to vulgar subject matter, saving both from demeaning each other. More likely is the possibility that the structure of Freddy Got Fingered is so foreign to film-goers weaned on convention that they cannot get themselves comfortable enough to laugh. If they are so accustomed to convention, then they are also desensitized to it, which explains why they cannot see its presence in other vulgar comedies, and hence their unsettling perversion. In any scenario, Freddy Got Fingered has failed to garner the praise it deserves because people just can't bring themselves to take this sophisticated social-commentary post-modern manifesto at anything but face value. And that is shameful.

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29 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
Refreshing, disgusting, curious, funny, offensive, strange, idiotic and inventive - all at the same time., 14 June 2006

Author: Antony from United Kingdom

My friend came in saying to me: 'You have got to see this film.' Upon asking him why, he told me that it was one of the most hilarious films he had ever seen. I usually find this particular person's opinion correct, so I bought the DVD.

I must say, I did find it very funny, but also very extreme. This film has very much been built up on it's controversy, like many other films. Some quotes include, 'purile and disgusting' 'highly offensive' and 'stupid, immoral and idiotic.' All of the above are true.

But it is also very, very funny.

I had never heard of Tom Green before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I put on the DVD, and judging by the cover, the blurb and the beginning of the film, it seemed like a light hearted, stupid slapstick fare. I wish I had paid more attention to the rating.

The storyline is non - existent. Well, very little anyway. Gordy, a wannabe animator, tries to make a break for Hollywood, making just enough money as a cheese sandwich factory worker. But he fails miserably, and goes back to living at home with his parents.

That is all the 'storyline' I could decipher. What follows is a barrage of offensively brilliant comedy, including the infamous deer scene.

For 90% of the films running time, it doesn't really make sense. That is the one thing you must remember. But it is not supposed to. I think that it is not the deer scene that sets the tone, though. It's another.

Here's the scene: Gordy and his friend, Darren are standing on a half - pipe built outside Gordy's home. Darren tries to do a bit of skating, and trips up and breaks his leg - bone poking out through the skin, blood everywhere, and Darren screaming. This really took me aback - I wasn't really expecting anything so disgusting. While I was laughing a retching at Tom Green's childish antics during this scene, I never really recovered from it.

Although not all the humour is disgusting; some of it is just plain weird. For example, the sketch where Gordy hangs sausages from the ceiling and hooks them up to the piano strings, so that when he plays on the piano the sausages go up and down, made me crack a grin. He plays while randomly singing in an off - tone voice, 'Daddy, would you like some sausage? Daddy would you like some sausages?" It made me smile just out of pure curiosity.

Also in the bizarre section of the humour of this movie is the 'Treasure' sequence, in which Gordy childishly pretends he is a deep sea diver in the shower, and pretends that soap on a rope is treasure. This had me a bit weirded out, to say the least.

And last, but not least, is the 'Backwards Man' sequence. This is brilliant/stupid depending on who you talk to. In my opinion, this sequence is one of the films stand out moments.

But what I really think makes Freddy Got Fingered shine is the moments which parody the usual Hollywood schmaltz's. For example:

'Oh Gordy,I don't care about jewels. All I really wanna do is.... suck your c***'

'This has been a valuable life lesson. This trip hasn't been about spending about acting like a d***, shouting at the top of my voice like a hyperactive child or whacking off an elephant. This trip has been about the fact that one million dollars should be spent the right way. The American way. Blowing it all in one go on a load of s*** I will never need'

So sure, this movie ain't no masterpiece. But it is a damn fine comedy, one that made me laugh a lot, and a truly offensive one too.

And you don't see that too often nowadays.

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18 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
Appeals to me but Not to others, 30 June 2006

Author: bfscr1 from United Kingdom

We all have a different sense of humour to the next guy and this movie truly completes my quest for a surreal comedy.

I love this movie's originality, what other movie is similar to this in anyway? It throws jokes every minute start to end, most comedies don't do that. Instead there's always a serious 5 minutes and will have a weak joke.

Most people will say I'm immature for my opinion but in all fairness, we're afraid of expressing our actual sense of humour. I can see it when I see a person try their hardest not to laugh at a simple fart noise.

Tom Green's purpose was obvious to remove the comedy barrier and do the things that society frowns upon. Initially I though throwing a baby around by the umbilical cord was really bad to do in a comedy but it made me laugh like a child.

My opinion on other people's comments? Either they prefer a different type of comedy or even a genre which I respect or they aren't ready for such a movie.

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25 out of 44 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best Terrible Movie Ever Made, 27 February 2006

Author: Grahamsky from Chapel Hill, NC, USA

If you are looking for a moronic, low-brow, hilarious movie, "Freddy Got Fingered" is absolutely immaculate. It has enough of a plot to keep you interested but is so absurd that no one could ever take it seriously. "FGF" is completely random, which I really enjoyed, and Tom Green is as spectacular as ever. If you liked "The Tom Green Show" that aired on MTV during the late 90's then you will enjoy this film; if not then you will find this motion picture completely asinine and abhorrent. There is lots of gross-out humor that is not for the faint of heart and the ending is absolutely priceless. I recommend that everyone spend a Saturday night with a six-pack of cheap beer and "Freddy Got Fingered," you will never forget it.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Puerile rubbish, 9 February 2005

Author: robin_goodenough-1 from United Kingdom

I've never been a great fan of Tom Green although certain sketches from his comedy show have made me laugh. Having heard from various sources how bad this film was, I decided the least I could do would be to give him and it a chance. All I can say is this has to be one of the worst films ever made. The plot, and I use this term loosely, consists of Green playing an aspiring comic strip artist and writer who goes to Hollywood in order to fulfil his dream. When this doesn't work out, he returns home and the rest of the film mainly concerns the conflict between himself and his father. A lot has been made of how sick this film is. Where there are parts of it that do border on good taste, that's not what bothered me. The fact is that this film just isn't funny, except maybe to a ten year old boy. Maybe it's me but someone acting like a mentally ill person and shouting a lot doesn't really get me laughing. The 'comic' situations are tired and lame and I can't think of anything positive from this film whatsoever except maybe at under an hour and a half, it's thankfully short.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
the money for this film could have been used for a lot of good things, 4 February 2004

Author: canadude

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

*contains minor spoilers* I noticed that when critics reviewed this movie they flirted with terms much like "failed surrealism" or they praised Tom Green for having the guts to do this movie even though it failed. But all that is completely unnecessary - the movie is abominably stupid and that's all it aimed at. I also heard that if you don't find this movie funny you need to be more laid back and get a sense of humour. I mean, I'm pretty sure I have a sense of humour, but the giggles this movie elicits mirror those of an elementary school kid who has just found out that sexual intercourse entails penetrating the vagina with the penis. Yet does jacking off an elephant, or severing an umbilical cord with your teeth and spraying the delivery room with maternal blood really bring out the child in us? As far as I'm concerned it doesn't, but one thing is for sure. Whatever laughs the movie gets (and I *believe* it is intended as a comedy) are laughs of shock. The movie shows us freak show style strangeness and we are so confused the only reaction we can come up with is laughter. And maybe the movie succeeds on that level. But I didn't find it that shocking, and I'm sure that in a few years a hundred other movies will beat its grossness and, sometimes, just plain sadistic ugliness. The movie is sadistic (I won't bother to describe the plot), and the main character enjoys tormenting other people. I don't know if this is what is supposed to be funny, but it certainly leads to no point and is more annoying than anything else. The whole movie, in fact, is just plain retarded. And I mean "retarded" in its objective, critical sense, not in any derogatory way. So I guess I don't recommend "Freddy Got Fingered," unless you must satisfy your curiousity, your inner child so to speak.

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