Movie 43

Wait Till You See What I Got Hidden!
If you're up for some short stories in the comedy genre, then this film is for you, if you don't mind jokes that are offensive and appealing to the lowest common denominator, with a star studded lineup to sweeten the deal. Touted as a film with the most stars, it's quite like the many ensemble effort that Hollywood has been churning out of late like Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve, although this consists of no less than 13 separate shorts that for sure had tickled my funny bone.

It would be insane to review each and every short film contained within, which were held together and presented as a screwball screenwriter wannabe (Dennis Quaid) whose ideas for a feature film are getting pitched to a studio executive (Greg Kinnear), which allows for a variety of content to be laid out for the purpose of cramming plenty of recognizable faces into lead roles in the respective shorts. Having different directors helm each segment also brought about different styles in presentation, and it couldn't be more over the top crazy when a peek in the credits list see Peter Farelly and Seth MacFarlane having producer credits, the latter seeing his stock rise in recent months.

Some highlights of the film that I had enjoyed somehow centered around speed or blind dating - Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman on a blind date with the latter playing an eligible bachelor which the former will find out why, speed dating amongst a group of superheroes played by Justin Long, Kristen Bell, Jason Sudeikis and Bobby Cannavale, and Halle Berry and Stephen Merchant playing truth or dare during their first blind date with insane results. Others include the segments that poked pun at people's penchant for doing the impossible with technology in iBabe with Richard Gere playing an executive, and Terrence Howard playing a coach in the 50s giving that motivational talk to his basketball team before their all-star match up.

There were duds too, such as Emma Stone and Kieren Culkin playing an unlikely couple giving each other sexual innuedos over a supermarket check out counter, or Johnny Knoxville and Seann Wiliam Scott playing the best of friends who get to celebrate the latter's birthday with a leprechaun, that somehow tried too hard and didn't hit its intended highs. Thankfully though these misses were kept to a minimum, and while the others were passable, they benefitted from having a scene or two that were outrageously offensive and funny.

This is probably Paris Je T'aime and New York I Love You in cruder, and grosser terms. where toilet humour is never out of place, and political incorrectness gets embraced with open arms. A definite must for those who haven't smiled in a while, and need the simplest of reasons to laugh out loud.