Wild Hogs (2007)

Director:

Walt Becker

Writer (WGA):

Brad Copeland (written by)

Release Date:

2 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

A lot can happen on the road to nowhere.

Plot:

A group of suburban biker wannabes looking for adventure hit the open road, but get more than they bargained for when they encounter a New Mexico gang called the Del Fuegos.

Plot Keywords:

Biker | Friend | Motorcycle | Road Trip | New Mexico

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tim Allen	...	Doug Madsen
John Travolta	...	Woody Stevens
Martin Lawrence	...	Bobby Davis
William H. Macy	...	Dudley Frank
Ray Liotta	...	Jack
Marisa Tomei	...	Maggie
Kevin Durand	...	Red
M.C. Gainey	...	Murdock
Jill Hennessy	...	Kelly Madsen
Dominic Janes	...	Billy Madsen
Tichina Arnold	...	Karen Davis
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Charley
Jason Sklar	...	Earl Dooble
Randy Sklar	...	Buck Dooble
Drew Sidora	...	Haley Davis

Also Known As:

Blackberry (Philippines: English title) (review title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, and some violence.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | Ireland:12A | UK:12A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-11 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43259) | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:6 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:6 | Argentina:13 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Hong Kong:IIA | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:7 | South Korea:12 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The army-green bike Jack (Ray Liotta) is riding has the Orange County Choppers logo, the custom bike building company made famous in "American Chopper: The Series" (2003).

Goofs:

Continuity: When they are all riding on the highway, they all get splattered with bugs. In a shot looking up at them from a ditch, there aren't any bug-splatters on them. What happened to the bugs?

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dudley Frank: [after getting a fist-tap from Woody and nearly wiping out] Whoa! Whoa! Oh! Man, oh, man. I almost lost it back there. I didn't know what was going on.
[hits a sign face first]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Worst of 2007" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Get Me Outta Here

Absolutely nothing worthwhile here

The name of the picture is Wild Hogs but that is really a stretch for this movie. I found nothing wild nor funny. A dead giveaway is when, only minutes after the film begins, I start wishing it was time to leave.

Due to the preponderance of lousy movies the past few years I usually wait until it comes to my local dollar theater (OK, it is now $2) or rent it on DVD. I really hate paying $9 for a movie I don't enjoy and having to watch it in the midst of cell phones ringing, Mr. Basso Perfundo talking in a loud roar behind my head or people coming and going throughout. So I have come to watch most movies of late in the comfort and convenience of my own personal video room. But I digress.....

Wifey came home yesterday with a $10 certificate to the local movie mall. Seems she had been some sort of hero at work and was substantially rewarded. Since I had mentioned that a number of fellow Wingsters on this site had seen this movie and liked it she wanted to go. In the interest of full disclosure let me also say that I am an Olde Farte and have been riding motorcycles, dirt and street, since 1958.

Let me begin by stating my opinion that Disney should stick to doing what it does best, making kiddie fairy tale movies and running theme parks, and not try to do adult entertainment. And before you say "but it was Touchstone who released this" let me remind the reader Touchstone is the "non-family" part of Disney Entertainment.

It is obvious Disney tried to make an adult comedy here. Only problem is, it should have been a cartoon because absolutely nothing worked. The stunts were old-hat, predictable and sloppy. The various themes, homophobia, nasty-biker-gangs-turned-nice-guys, terrified townspeople have all been beat to death hundreds of times before and this movie added nothing new. Nor did it make history humorous.

Maybe it was an impossible task from the start. Hollywood has never made a decent motorcycle movie (and no, I don't consider Easy Rider to be one since it had little to do with bikes and much more to do with people, ala Route 66). The only great bike movie ever made was On Any Sunday and Hollywood had nothing to do with it nor was it about bike gangs.

You really have to wonder why people signed on to make this POS.

Tim Allen has been one of my favorite comedians for years but he can't seem to make a true comedy movie. I have a collection of every Home Improvement show made and they never get old. Unlike that show however, he is neither funny here nor does he have much of a supporting cast in Wild Hogs.

William H. Macy was easily the 'star' of this movie if indeed there is a star. Allen is all but invisible. Travolta has one big scene (the stone faced "Indian"). Lawrence plays another henpecked Black guy with Kingfish eyes but does otherwise not add any humor or depth. One also has to wonder if Crossing Jordan is not going well for Jill Hennessey. She is more background than the scenery. The little boy raking leaves has a larger part.

At least they got some more use out of that old trailer from CHiPS - the one used when shooting the bikes riding side-by-side. Little else was salvageable.

Given the A-level actors, my expectations were for something greater than another comedic loser-movie in an era where comedy is a lost art. I might as well have been watch something with Jim Carrey, Will Ferrel or Chris Rock - the Jerry Louises of GenX. Nothing is more lame than garbage like this.

Rating: Grudgingly, 1 SOS (out of four).

Can't figure out what 'SOS' is? Think back to the "hilarious" campfire scene and the plastic bag. See? What wonderful 'humor'!