Duct Tape Forever (2002)
Starring: Steve Smith &
Patrick McKenna
Review written by: Josh Bozeman on November 10, 2003 @ 1:00
AM CT.
Rating: 5/10
For those of you who don't know- this is the Red Green movie, based on the hit series from Canada that airs on PBS here in the United States. It's most of the characters from the show, but there's more of a story instead of short little segments.
The film opens with the guys at the possum lodge getting all the duct tape they can to build a big duct tape goose. We find out that a millionaire came into town and crashed his limo into a sinkhole at the lodge, and the judge has forced the lodge to pay $10, 000 in damages within ten days or lose the lodge forever to the city, who would sell it off. Harold comes up with an idea to win the cash- enter the duct tape contest he read about on a roll of tape...it's in Minnesota, and 3rd prize is $10, 000- funny that they keep saying, 'this is at least a third prize winner,' instead of hoping for 1st of 2nd. So, Red, Harold, and Dalton are off to America to enter their huge duct tape goose into the contest to save the lodge...but, we find out that the sheriff is trying to stop them, talked into stopping Red and company from getting to America by the evil millionaire who secretly wants to buy possum lodge and turn it into a ritzy club...and the worst part- a club for women only! So, that's the basic plot...as Red and the rest of the lodge try to make it to Minnesota and beat out the sheriff and the millionaire.
Well...I got this movie on DVD from the library- had been wanting to get ahold of it for weeks, so I went in with high hopes. I was disappointed tho, because I really wanted to like this movie. I love the show on PBS, and I even started taping the episodes a few weeks ago. So, I thought- no sweat, this has gotta be funny...the show is funny, the movie will be the same. That's the problem- Red Green the movie is a totally different animal...instead of the segments where Red talks directly to the camera and the ones with the other characters included...the film isn't like that at all, and in the end- the film doesn't work. The story is too weak, and there's not enough funny to keep it going for an hour and a half.
The characters are too overboard- again, in the series...it works. In the film, it doesn't. You can't watch the evil rich guy and take him seriously, and he's just not funny...nor is Harold, who is usually hilarious, but a tiny bit annoying, on the show. In the movie, Harold is just plain annoying, and you can't even get close to sympathizing with his character, because he's TOO weird and TOO dorky in the movie. Harold's stupidity on the show is almost endearing...in the film, it's just nerver wrecking.
I think if the story was a little funnier, and there was more substance- this would have been a really great movie. On the DVD, Steve Smith, the creator and actor who plays Red Green has a commentary track, and I must say, it was better than watching the movie itself. He's geniunely funny, and he points out some funny stuff throughout the entire film. The behind the scenes interviews are nice too, and there is also a mockmumentary about Red going to Hollywood, but I never watched it.
Another thing I need to mention about the movie is the overuse of the annoying, almost circus-sounding music that started in the first scene and popped up a bunch of times thru the entire movie. It was too over the top silly, and it made everything seem unprofessional to a certain point...I just got annoyed by the music, and I wished they would have stuck to the blues music, and the orchestral background stuff the entire time.
Maybe if this movie had included the stuff from the show like handyman corner, or the game where they get the guy to say the certain word, or any of the other cool stuff from the show, it would have a lot better, but in the format it was in, it just didn't work. Don't let that keep you from watching the show tho, because it's hilarious.