1/10

Celebrity. It is an odd beast; a double edge sword for those who have it and something glamorized by many that don’t. A celebrity of our time does not need to be an actor, musician or athlete. The pathway to modern celebrity is lined by fifteen minuets of reality TV fame and perhaps a sex tape thrown in for good measure. So when an ensemble film comes along containing a plethora of talented film celebrities, many viewers wait with anticipation and high hopes to experience the end result. Unfortunately, the end result for Movie 43 and its tidal wave of Hollywood stars is not a good one. It is a total cinematic washout, a disaster film in the very literal sense.

Charlie Wessler (Dennis Quaid) is a writer at his wits end. In desperation he begs and pleads movie producer Griffin Schraeder (Greg Kinnear) to green light any one of his juvenile script ideas. All of Charlie’s separate ideas are the storylines for the short films that makes up Movie 43’s weak infrastructure. The shorts have no theme or flow with each other, while Charlie’s bridging story is a boring lackluster effort written by stale writers operating at a base level.  The “comedy” in this film consists of crude, sadistic and over the top gags.  The barrage of over hyped garbage even continues into the credits for the audience members that haven’t left the cinema hallway yet. Those discerning or possibly desperate viewers are then rewarded with another short film containing the most deplorable mix of animation on live action ever committed to a film of this budget. 

Peter Farrelly, who has produced the film and directed some of the stories within, has responded to the influx of negative reviews by saying that people need to “lighten up” because he is offering Hollywood something new. Apparently this fresh approach for Farrelly means testicles on Hugh Jackman’s chin, incest jokes and a defecating animated cat. What he fails to see is the pure unlimited freedom a director can have with short film. It is the medium for aspiring talent to shine. When established film directors expect audiences to swallow this deluge of distaste it can seem very much like an insult on viewer intelligence. You don’t need a weak script like Charlie’s storyline to bridge the short films together. If the stories are good, they speak for themselves. Movie 43 will make some people laugh. Those people will be long time Farrelly fans, if there are any left. It is a film that requires zero thought or emotional engagement from the viewer. Movie 43 is boring, played out and for the most part mind-numbingly unfunny. Enter at your own risk and for others needing a Farrelly fix just watch your old copy of There's Something About Mary (2008) to save your cents and sensibility.