Postal (2007)

In the ironically named city of Paradise, a recently laid-off loser teams up with his cult-leading uncle to steal a peculiar bounty of riches from their local amusement park; somehow, the recently arrived Taliban have a similar focus, but a far more sinister intent.

Director:

Uwe Boll

Writers:

Uwe Boll, Bryan C. Knight

Stars:

Zack Ward, Dave Foley, Chris Coppola

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zack Ward	...	Dude
Dave Foley	...	Uncle Dave
Chris Coppola	...	Richard
Jackie Tohn	...	Faith
J.K. Simmons	...	Candidate Welles
Ralf Moeller	...	Officer John
Verne Troyer	...	Verne Troyer
Chris Spencer	...	Officer Greg
Larry Thomas	...	Osama Bin Laden
Michael Paré	...	Panhandler
Erick Avari	...	Habib
Lindsay Hollister	...	Recorder
Brent Mendenhall	...	George W. Bush
Rick Hoffman	...	Mr. Blither
Michael Benyaer	...	Mohammed

Storyline

The story begins with a regular Joe who tries desperately to seek employment, but embarks on a violent rampage when he teams up with cult leader Uncle Dave. Their first act is to heist an amusement park, only to learn that the Taliban are planning the same heist as well. Chaos ensues, and now the Postal Dude must not only take on terrorists but political figures as well.

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Plot Keywords:

heist | taliban | gang bang | miniature golf | mental retardation | 

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Taglines:

Some comedies go too far... others start there.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for extremely crude humor throughout, including strong sexuality, graphic nudity, violence, and for pervasive language and some drug use

Details

Country:

USA Canada Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 2007 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Postal: The Movie

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 20,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Boll Kino Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, Pitchblack Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 114 min (Director's Cut DVD) 127 min (long) 107 min (original cut) 102 min (unrated DVD)

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Uwe Boll shot only 3 to 5 takes of every scene. He thought that comedy's biggest strength is the emotion behind the acting, which cannot be maintained when there are too many takes.

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Goofs

After declining Osama's credit card, the guy who sells the "How to Dominate your Worker" merchandise runs the next customers' cards through his machine upside down. They clear.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Asif: Congratulations, Nabi. We are at the doorstep of our martyrdom.
Nabi: Praise Allah.
Asif: Praise him! Soon, we will be greeted by Allah, the one true god... and by the cheers of our Four Fathers... and by ninety-nine perfect virgins who will worship us... for ALL eternity!
Nabi: [pause] I thought it was one hundred.
Asif: What's that?
Nabi: One hundred virgins. They promised me one hundred.
Asif: Ninety-nine, one hundred. What's the difference?
Nabi: If they're telling you one thing and they're telling me another, maybe ...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofs Brokeback Mountain (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Tu Hi Meri Jaan"
Written by Dhiren Raichura & Timon Singh
Published by Atmosphere Music c/o Killer Tracks

User Reviews

Uwe Boll returns to his roots

If we forget for a minute that this film was directed by Uwe Boll, the discussion of this film would be very different. It's hard not to remember other video games he's responsible for bringing to the screen ("Alone in the Dark," "Bloodrayne") that really really sucked.

Boll has said he looked inward to write about his own frustration with the world for this. And it's very different. It doesn't compare to his other films at all - is closer to "Kentucky Fried Movie" than to "Alien Vs. Predator." It's a comedy, presumably his first intentional one since his debut film 15 years ago, and it goes to a place he hasn't shown us before.

It's based on the spirit of the game "Postal" already politically incorrect, cartoony, out of control, and not really serious (not even as "Vice City"). In a post 9/11 world, how do you make a film about an urban terrorist who's just "p--ssed off" without addressing terrorism, racism, and everything else that are hot buttons in the world...that create the madness that might make someone go...well, you know.

Boll has channeled the politically incorrect attitude and turned it on its ear. He doesn't mind making everyone look the fool, do things they shouldn't for the wrong reasons, kill the wrong people, overreact, act out clichés, etc. Everything and everyone is fair game in this film, and we must remember that - it's a FILM. It's fake, folks. Everyone in it takes themselves too seriously and thinks killing someone solves their problems. They're crazy, wrong, and in this film, they're laughable. Having fun yet? This is really a kitchen-sink movie. Every possible joke, high and low, sexual or sociological, is jammed in, with varying degrees of success. A lot of it's quite funny, some is stupid and offensive (but weirdly, in a good-natured way. It's not mean-spirited at all.) Ultimately it's a lot of fun. I agree that's it's too long towards the end, if only because Boll didn't have the resources to make the final shootout as epic as it should have been, and it begins to feel cramped.

The portrayal of Osama bin Laden (by "soup Nazi" Larry Thomas) is inspired. Zack Ward and Dave Foley are both great and very comfortable in their roles. Uwe himself has a great no-punches-pulled cameo along with the original maker of the game "Postal" at one point.

I wonder if this will ever translate to a wide release or if it will remain something we see on DVD (unrated, we can only hope) and laugh over. It is up to us to support any film that gets to the uncomfortable part of our world.

And amazingly, Uwe Boll wrote and directed it. Good job. Not the best film in the world, but one to remember. I don't think Paul W.S. Anderson or Eli Roth (to pick other famous "hacks") could possibly have pulled something this off. Boll is off the worst-director-ever list after this.

Let's hope after "Bloodrayne 2" he does something else more personal.