Movie 43

Let’s consider for a moment the debate about movie star power. Without an extensive amount of research, there is a sense that the presence of a big name in a movie is not always a guarantee of financial gain. Audiences are typically able to decipher whether or not a movie has something they’re looking for other than a Hollywood A-Lister staring back at them. Never has this been more apparent than with Movie 43, a segmented raunch-fest that exploits big names on the cast list to try and draw an audience to a movie they’d never want to see otherwise. The film consists of 12 short stories told as if they were pitch ideas being told by a psycho screenwriter (Dennis Quaid) to a studio executive (Greg Kinear). The stories all have different actors, writers and directors, who all individually and as a whole are severely overqualified for such a project.

The comedy is so dirty and often disgusting that even a 12 year old boy sneaking into the R rated movie wouldn’t find it funny. But somehow, even though they must have known how terrible this was going to be, the prime actors do their parts to try and save it. The cast ranges from award winning names like Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Richard Gere to fan favorites like Emma Stone, Josh Duhamel and Gerard Butler. Even the less respected players like Johnny Knoxville and Sean William Scott are still significantly above this. We must assume that the names of directors like Elizabeth Banks, James Gunn and Brett Ratner must have attracted some of them. To be honest, as stupid as the segments are, the actors are generally pretty good.

The idea of breaking up a film like this is an interesting concept, but it is executed poorly. In many occasions the scenes play out in a way that humiliates the overqualified actor who did the studio a favor by making themselves available for it. The laughs are far outweighed by cringe worthy moments and certain stories play out completely without being funny at all. Movie 43 is the lowest of low brow comedy. I could see it working as a web show, but definitely not a major motion picture release.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.