An American Carol

review update: Unless a) you are easily offended by David Zucker's "Airplane"-&-"Police Squad"-type humor, or b) a card-carrying leftist, go see An American Carol*.

It's above-average for the spoof movie genre, with plenty of slapstick, lowbrow puns, and lots of (often deserved) stereotyping. There were a very few jokes that fell flat**, and it used the "A _____ Carol" premise that was probably cliche when Dickens wrote it. But it's definitely worth seeing for its pro-American stance, and even a few really touching moments.

During one slight break in the action, it occurred to me that this movie succeeded in a way that Frasier (another Kelsey Grammer role) succeeded - by catering to both high-brow and low-brow tastes simultaneously. While everybody was laughing at the parody of Moor.. er, Malone's gluttony, lechery, etc., the observant were rewarded with lots of inside jokes and subtle digs. For instance, and almost in passing, when the know-it-all windbag Malone tried to insult the spirit of JFK by saying "For a minute there you sounded like Ronald Reagan", JFK responded "Thanks".

On a scale of one to ten, it's really good. Go see it. If you've already seen it, see it again.

* and/or buy it when it comes out on DVD - there's lots of extras to catch going on in the background.

** including the one after the credits, which I reeeeeeally wish I hadn't stayed for.

p.s. I don't really like country music either, but that's okay here ;)

p.p.s. That was just the first part of a good day.

----------------------

original post: This looks promising:

"The American spirit is celebrated in the outrageous and totally irreverent comedy An American Carol from David Zucker, the master of movie satire... (In the movie, a cynical anti-American) filmmaker sets out on a crusade to abolish the 4th of July holiday. He is visited by three spirits who take him on a hilarious journey in an attempt to show him the true meaning of America."

...if it's not a double-whammy.

Opens this weekend - Oct 3rd.