Wayne's World

Wayne's World (1992)

*** (out of 4)

Highly entertaining big-screen version of the Saturday Night Live skit has best buds Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) partying and doing their public television show without much stress in their lives. This all changes once they meet up with a crooked producer (Rob Lowe) who decides to exploit their show. WAYNE'S WORLD isn't one of the greatest movies ever made but it's certainly charming and funny enough for what it is. I'd also say it's safe to say that this is one of the better SNL transitions to the movies and a lot of the credit has to go to its two stars. I think both Wayne and Garth would be downright annoying characters had the performances been off in any way but both Myers and Carvey really took these guys and made them, at times, stupid but also very charming and just the type of people you'd want to hang out with. There are all sorts of funny moments throughout the picture but the real highlights deal with the boys and their interactions with other people. Lara Lynn Boyle as Wayne's ex-girlfriend gets all sorts of funny moments as does Brian Doyle-Murray who ends up being a sponsor who gets on the wrong side of Wayne. There's also Ed O'Neill in a small role as well as Meat Loaf and Chris Farley. Also on hand is a terrific bit from Alice Cooper who nearly steals the film with the performance of "Feed My Frankenstein" and the hilarious backstage access where he talks about Milwaukee. Lowe also deserves a lot of credit with his comedy here as he's perfect as the snake in the grass. Even Tia Carrere does a nice job. Director Penelope Spheeris does a very good job at keeping the film moving at a very good pace and there's no question that she knows how to stage the various bits of classic rock music throughout. Fans of the SNL material are certainly going to eat this up as its as fresh today as it was when it was first released.