Score!
1998-10-01
$17.0M
81 min
Despite being well into adulthood, brothers Doug and Steve Butabi still live at home and work in the flower shop owned by their dad. They exist only to hit on women at discos, though they're routinely unsuccessful until a chance run-in with Richard Grieco gets them inside the swank Roxbury club. Mistaken for high rollers, they meet their dream women, Vivica and Cambi, and resolve to open a club of their own.
1998's attempted Saturday Night Live skit-to-movie adaptation is not so much a movie, but more like just a short, 81 minute series of skits that are almost completely right out of the show, so it's more like just watching a greatest hit's collection of the skits from the Saturday Night Live television show from the 90's. But, while this movie is definitely far from even being very good, it is still a fairly decent movie, and while it is so short, it actually manages to have some very funny scenes with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan that are also definitely reminiscent of some of the SNL skits funniest moments. But, despite the PG-13 Rating, this movie is not appropriate for young kids or even most teen's: There is frequent crude and sexual humor with three very graphic but somewhat comical sex scenes that actually fairly much push the limit for the PG-13 rating. Also, there is some infrequent profanity with at least one useof the F-word. Finally, there is a extremely brief and subtle drug reference near the beginning of the movie that only older audiences watching the movie will get. So, it may not be a great comedy, or even a terribly memorable one, but it still makes you laugh while it's going.
One to file under: 'Better than it had any right to be'.
For the most part whilst watching, I felt quite nonplussed by everything about <em>'A Night at the Roxbury'</em> - it was neither pleasing or annoying me. By its conclusion, however, I actually felt like I enjoyed it. I feel like I should've disliked it, but the opposite is more true to be honest.
Some of the humour lands, some of it doesn't - those dancing head nods, for example, are amusing, but the film seriously overuses it. I assume that's a carryover from the <em>'Saturday Night Live'</em> sketch that this is based upon. Haddaway's 'What Is Love' is also overplayed throughout, though with that I actually felt the use was fitting - the music overall is good, to be fair.
Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan make for a positive pairing, with Ferrell narrowly being the standout of the two - as you'd expect, I guess. Molly Shannon does well, as do Dan Hedaya and Richard Grieco. There are also a few interesting minor cast members, from Michael Clarke Duncan to Eva Mendes to Jennifer Coolidge.
Just about 7/10, but 7/10 all the same.
