Gord Brody wants to be an animator, but his father is too authoritarian and the head of the animation studio says he has no future. So, Gord moves back home and wreaks havoc on his family, including the accusation that his brother Freddy was "fingered" by his father.
Many people think this film is horrible. Certainly, the Razzy Awards thought so. I, also, didn't think much of it when I first saw the movie. Tom Green is more annoying in this film than he ever was before. But the movie also grows on you, and if you can get the right mindset you might appreciate it. (Not unlike "Napoleon Dynamite" which is either stupid or genius based on how you approach it.) I watched this with two people (Jason and Matt) who thought it was "the greatest comedy ever"... I wouldn't go that far. Though, I think if it was slightly different, the same plot with the same jokes could have been hilarious. (I can't pinpoint exactly what's "off") The supporting cast is helpful, with Harland Williams being funny and the best role going to Rip Torn as the father. Torn entered something of a Renaissance in the mid-2000s, which I wouldn't doubt it related in part to his work in this film. Would he have been chosen for "Dodgeball"? I have my doubts. Drew Barrymore is decent in her small role, and Anthony Michael Hall was excellent (and hardly recognizable to those of us who remember him from "The Breakfast Club").
What makes this film noteworthy is the real push into both absurdity and obscenity. Cow udders and horse penises do not usually get placed in feature films, nor do keyboards rigged to pulleyed sausages. There is something beautiful about this. While I find "gross-out" humor awful (this is my biggest beef with films like "Van Wilder" and "American Pie"), many like it and this film really paved the way for films that would come out after it (though was by no means the beginning of gross-out). And I can think of no film as absurd.
And it just increases as the film goes on. Small jokes like the "must have experience with cheese sandwiches" really make me chuckle, and the big scenery change towards the end just goes over the top in a way few films, if any, have thought to do before. Tom Green is either a complete genius or mentally retarded man with very lucid dreams. I'm not sure which.
Underneath it all, under the stupidity, absurdity, obscenity and poor acting... there is a message here. Something about rocket-propelled wheelchairs and shooting the moon, achieving your dreams. Maybe the presentation was a little untraditional but it works. Be prepared to give this film a second chance, it's not as bad as you remember.
