i can sheepishly admit, i am a fan of Tom Green. Whether it's Organized Rhyme, his own "The Tom Green Show" both pre and post MTV, or his first forays into film, "Freddy Got Fingered", "Road Trip", and 'The Chad' in "Charlie's Angels", I look forward to watching what he will do next.
With this in mind, I can honestly say, "Bob the Butler" is a horrible film, whether you like Green or not, whether you like movies or not, or whether you have a pulse or not.
What i enjoy about Green is his ability to find humour in such simple things as a cheese sandwich. i love watching him interact with others, altering the everyday altercation with either a minute change of pace, or a major social faux pas, both played with deadpan mock seriousness.
What i don't particularly like about Green is when the joke runs too long, or the joke isn't funny to begin with. The nice thing about all the aforementioned resume bits of Green was quick editing in mind, or jokes that, if they weren't funny, they were bizarre enough to shock you or make you think. Bob the Butler is devoid of any of these things.
The film takes the premise that Green's character cannot hold a job, until he finds himself as a butler for an oddly cast, anal retentive, control freak Brooke Shields. What ensues is a bland, run of the mill, stereotypical movie about a babysitter who is not liked by the kids until they eventually warm up and want the babysitter to be their parent, who is missing out on the kids until they realize too late that the fired babysitter was actually better for the kids than their own parenting.
What's so disappointing is not just the rehash family film formula. It's that Green is as far removed from this type of thing than any comedian, that any hope for him messing within the parameters of this formula is never realized. The opening cartoon credits, if filmed as a live action weekly series staring Green, would be so much better than this boring, uneventful snooze fest. Three things Green has never been accused of, until now. Perhaps that's why he did it.
Grade: D-
With this in mind, I can honestly say, "Bob the Butler" is a horrible film, whether you like Green or not, whether you like movies or not, or whether you have a pulse or not.
What i enjoy about Green is his ability to find humour in such simple things as a cheese sandwich. i love watching him interact with others, altering the everyday altercation with either a minute change of pace, or a major social faux pas, both played with deadpan mock seriousness.
What i don't particularly like about Green is when the joke runs too long, or the joke isn't funny to begin with. The nice thing about all the aforementioned resume bits of Green was quick editing in mind, or jokes that, if they weren't funny, they were bizarre enough to shock you or make you think. Bob the Butler is devoid of any of these things.
The film takes the premise that Green's character cannot hold a job, until he finds himself as a butler for an oddly cast, anal retentive, control freak Brooke Shields. What ensues is a bland, run of the mill, stereotypical movie about a babysitter who is not liked by the kids until they eventually warm up and want the babysitter to be their parent, who is missing out on the kids until they realize too late that the fired babysitter was actually better for the kids than their own parenting.
What's so disappointing is not just the rehash family film formula. It's that Green is as far removed from this type of thing than any comedian, that any hope for him messing within the parameters of this formula is never realized. The opening cartoon credits, if filmed as a live action weekly series staring Green, would be so much better than this boring, uneventful snooze fest. Three things Green has never been accused of, until now. Perhaps that's why he did it.
Grade: D-