Hot Rod: SNL Returned
There are some movies that change people’s lives for ever. Films that top the critics’ lists, like “Jaws” or “Blue Velvet,” are capable of introducing a whole generation of movie goers to a new way of looking at reality. And then there are films that, like Hot Rod,” don’t do much of anything. Except, for the 90 minutes that we spend watching it, those are some of the most fun moments we may have had in awhile. If we’re daydreaming, it’s about raceline wheels or something equally elegant, slick, and cool, and not about the usual problems that we tend to take with us into the movie theatre.
The zany, feel-good movie may have been in hiding for awhile, but in 2007, these SNL regulars brought it back to life. There have been plenty of comedies, and plenty by other SNL cast members, for sure, but they were tending toward a rather dark and cynical look at the world. To enjoy them fully, audiences had to enter into the outlook fully, but “Hot Rod” made it all right not to be embarrassed not to be gloomy. It even made it cool again. That’s not a small task, either, considering the way the show has gone in the popular opinion over the last decade. With few exceptions (Will Ferrell being perhaps at the top of the list), there haven’t been many shining moments on the show, and fewer still by the SNL alumni on the big screen. It’s been more than one critics’ experience where, seeing one of the offshoot films is a bit like chewing on exploding caps. Eventually, it’s going to get a little bit painful. However, that seems to be shifting, and one might wonder exactly what kind of turn things have taken.
Interviews with SNL cast members involved with the film reveals a dynamic that hasn’t been around for a very long time. In a film where everything could be reduced to michelin jokes in order to fill out a prescription for a comedy, this one took chances. The chances seem to have come from the very center of what’s risky for anyone in the comedy business: the things that make people laugh to begin with. And there’s a certain sense that these folks are used to making each other laugh, on and off the set, and they still enjoy it. There’s a freshness to the sharing of each other’s company, one that rubs off on television as well as in the movies. It looks like things have taken a wonderful turn.