This movie was terrible, further evidence that commercial success has no bearing on quality... to me its no great surprise that it was number one- it began its inevitable and inexorable move to the top of the charts weeks before it was released on the back of a huge marketing campaign (which included not one but two appearances on Idols!!! who can ask for more; a spot on one of the most watched TV programs at prime time too!) Someone mentioned the Animation in the beginning and i have to admit it was very well done- however you have to get worried when the title sequence of a movie is more thoughtful, more entertaining and of higher quality than the entire rest of the film.
The whole thing seems terribly unambitious with Williams and Jack shuffling along almost apologetically, and the film suffers from the usual south African film look- why the hell do our movies always appear like they were shot on a camcorder bought at the bargain bin at Makro when we produce soom beautifully shot and realized adverts?(Allan Grey, the new Edgar's ads, BP etc etc).
The Crazy monkey vignettes worked on MTV, as they were a successful parody of the ridiculous Jack Ass. However stretching the "stoner-humour" over an hour and a half becomes incredibly tiresome as do the distracting and unnecessary cameo appearances by South African "celebrities", which are about as subtle as the subliminal shots of the devil in the exorcist- in other words they serve no real purpose other than to break your concentration. You have to ask yourself what real value, intrinsic or otherwise, having Schalk Burger and John Vismis in a movie adds.
There is a serious lack of focus as well and the whole movie fails to gel as a whole, what is the purpose of the manziman saga? Its like an in joke that no one in the audience is ever made privy to.
Brendan Jack also makes for an annoying on screen entity, he is way to smarmy, rotund and self-assured. He is like a fat kid that dropped some smarties down his pants and discovered his penis.No i don't feel bad saying that; here's a guy who has gone incredibly far on the steam of a lot of ambition and very ordinary talent. His eyes positively gleam with ambition, he is a master of self-promotion but sadly he makes for a very sub-standard actor.
There is one small glimmer of hope in an otherwise doomed venture. Gavin Williams gives a quiet, understated performance, he's affable with a warm screen presence. But he is only rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.
This is not the great south African comedy some people were expecting, it is not a good movie, it is not a mediocre movie, it is a very, very bad movie.Putting a whole bunch of south African pseudo-celebrities in a movie does not a comedy make. Its like an all-star cast with no stars. You almost expect Brendan Jack to pop up at the end of the movie in a sick parody of porky pig and johnny rotten and belch out "have you ever had that feeling that you have been cheated?"
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