Bucky Larson:Born to Be a Star

Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star

Comedy

2011

Rated: R

Running Time: 97 minutes

Starring: Nick Swardson, Kevin Nealon, Christina Ricci, Don Johnson, Stephen Dorff

Directed By: Tom Brady

Rating: 5 out of 10

Outline

A small town kid travels to Hollywood to star in adult movies just like his parents did.

Review

This is the hardest thing about being a movie critic. It is putting out your opinion on someone’s artistic work and getting to bash or laud it. Conversely people can do the same thing on your reviews. I told myself going into reviewing that I would always give my true opinion with no outside influences so here it goes. Bucky Larson might be one of the most reviled films in recent memory. Scratch that, it might be one of the most reviled films of all time and yet I know no one who has actually seen this film. It is like everyone saw the trailer and formed an opinion without actually watching the film. Is it a good film? The answer is undoubtedly no. Did it make me laugh? I am ashamed to say it did on numerous occasions. This film had more laughs then any recent Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, or Vince Vaughn movie that I can think of so people should lighten up a bit. Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star is the story of a kid who moves to Hollywood from the Midwest to become a porn actor. He wants to follow in his parents footsteps and make them proud.

I was hugely skeptical going in just by the DVD cover alone. But as the movie got underway I found myself laughing at the dumbest things. An opening scene involves a hick farmer with some peanut butter and a few barn animals is the type of humor that permeates itself right through this film. What stopped this film from actually working for me was the lead character himself. Bucky Larson is this absurdly buck toothed moron with a ridiculous Amish looking haircut. He constantly is mixing up what words mean. For example: “I thought you had a Mac and cheese fetish” one character comments, “Oh I don’t use fetish cheese, I use Velveeta” answers Bucky. It is the multitude of these types of lame comments that I can see why people hate this movie. Bucky is also so ridiculous he is hard to watch for the entire film. It is like he has had massive brain trauma after already being the dumbest person in the States. But I found that it is the supporting cast that makes this film funny coupled with the fact Bucky is such an easy target for insulting jokes.

Nick Swardson plays Bucky Larson and this is maybe one of the worst performances of 2011. His portrayal of this virginal dimwit seems to bring down any momentum this film could generate. He stumbles his way through this movie and really detracts from the funny moments that do occur. His supporting cast of Christina Ricci, Don Johnson, and Stephen Dorff clearly needs money as they have prominent roles in this film. They all do decent jobs with their characters though in a movie of such low brow humor.

So I have been bashing this film but why I laughed mostly came through the struggles of Bucky to break into the porn industry. His unusual scenes of masturbating and his explosive ear piercing orgasms are pretty funny. He obviously gets insulted at regular intervals for his appearance but some of the comments cast his way are funny in their bluntness. I am not saying this is going to win any awards but I found I laughed at regular intervals and people who like movies like Grandma’s Boy may find some entertainment in it. So in conclusion, Bucky getting into the Porn industry is insane, Bucky getting a girlfriend is appalling, and the story is insulting, but the laughs that occur are more than a lot of comedies I have recently watched.

Director Tom Brady takes a truly bizarre script and makes a watchable movie with it. It seems he can QB for the Patriots and can also make a comedy with laughs. His pacing is great and he seems to be able to capture the toilet humor well. I am not going to blame him for casting Nick Swardson as Bucky as no one could have pulled off the role. I will applaud him for getting some decent actors to get the most out of this film. Overall I think he did a decent job on a film that could have been much worse than it was.

I cannot recommend this film but truly I was entertained for most of the film. If you like toilet humor and can stomach Bucky as a main character, than I wouldn’t read into all the negative reviews of people who haven’t seen this film. Also remember that Zoolander, Napoleon Dynamite, and Anchorman all have a big following when they are also terrible films.

T Factor + If you like potty humor than this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – If you need a good story with believable characters than this could easily score a zero on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: Grandma’s Boy, Little Man