Saturday Night Live regular Andy Samberg graduates to a big-screen
vehicle as Rod, a witless suburban kid who sponges off his parents (Ian
McShane and Sissy Spacek) and fancies himself a stunt rider. The script was
a Will Ferrell discard and plays like one, with most of the comic scenes
hanging limply on Rod's delusions of grandeur and any character interest
snuffed out by the contrived, self-negating plot (Rod wants to raise
$50,000 by jumping over fifteen buses so he can buy his stepdad a heart
transplant -- and then kick his ass). Samberg can't carry this, though
director Akiva Schaffer supplies some hilarious,
Jackass-style
wipeouts and there are nice supporting turns from Isla Fisher (
The
Wedding Crashers) as Rod's love interest and Bill Hader as one of his
goofball friends.
By
J.R. Jones