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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Hot Rod
Paramount Pictures
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for crude humor, language, some comic drug-related and violent content
Starring
Andy Samberg,
Jorma Taccone,
Isla Fisher,
Bill Hader,
Chris Parnell,
Will Arnett,
Ian McShane,
and
Sissy Spacek
Amateur stuntman Rod Kimble has a problem--his step-father Frank is a jerk. Frank picks on Rod, tosses him around like a ragdoll in their weekly sparring sessions, and definitely doesn't respect him, much less his stunts. But when Frank falls ill, it's up to Rod to stage the jump of his life in order to save his step-father. The plan: jump 15 buses, raise the money for Frank's heart operation and then...kick his ass. (Paramount Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Action
|
Comedy
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Pam Brady
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Akiva Schaffer
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: November 27, 2007
Theatrical: August 3, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
88 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
Hot Rod is a cousin to the comedies of Will Ferrell (for whom it was developed) with a younger skew, a kooky '80s nostalgia (complete with a pitch-perfect synthesizer score by Trevor Rabin) and a low-key amiability that keeps you rooting for Rod and company to triumph.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Rod is played by Andy Samberg from "Saturday Night Live," who on the basis of this film, I think, could become a very big star.
75
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
For connoisseurs of stupidity, Hot Rod is that perfect delicacy: A silly movie about ridiculous characters that's also actually funny. Hilarious, even.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Hartlaub
Just funny enough.
75
Premiere
Jonah Weiner
The fantasy here – dubious as life choices go, but great for a 90-minute comedy – is that you can stay 16 forever.
70
Los Angeles Times
Susan Carpenter
A cheekily fun sendup of Gen X iconography.
67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
Hot Rod keeps a sweet tone that's filled with affection for its characters, and enough laughs to become this summer's most mildly recommendable comedy.
63
TV Guide
Ken Fox
A little like a leisurely surf through YouTube.
63
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
If the movie weren't so playfully dumb -- did you ever think you'd see Ian McShane throw Andy Samberg through a basement shelving unit? -- this would be exasperating.
58
Entertainment Weekly
Gregory Kirschling
Wait until the best parts pop up on YouTube.
50
Chicago Tribune
Jessica Reaves
Sure, it's funny, mainly because it's utterly absurd and meandering.
50
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Samberg can't carry this, though director Akiva Schaffer supplies some hilarious, "Jackass"-style wipeouts and there are nice supporting turns from Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) as Rod's love interest and Bill Hader as one of his goofball friends.
50
USA Today
Claudia Puig
In what universe would you expect to see Andy Samberg, Ian McShane and Sissy Spacek in the same movie? You have to give the makers of Hot Rod credit for creative and unlikely casting. But the credit pretty much ends there.
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Stephen Cole
An inferior "Napoleon Dynamite." Call it Napoleon Firecracker. The film steals one of the best laughs of Jon Heder's surprise 2004 hit, the scene where Napoleon nosedives over a bicycle jump, and stretches the gag into an 86-minute movie.
40
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Only fitfully amusing. More often, it feels like a mediocre attempt to reprise the central elements of the infinitely funnier "Napoleon Dynamite."
40
Variety
Peter Debruge
Those hoping for feature-length doses of Samberg's "Lazy Sunday" wit will have to settle for just plain lazy, as Hot Rod aims low and still manages to miss its target.
40
Village Voice
Scott Foundas
Like so many movies from the SNL factory, there are perhaps 10 to 15 minutes of good, gag-worthy material here stretched out to interminable lengths. Or to put it another way: It's a very small dick in an oversized box.
40
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Hot Rod is a stupid movie about stupid people doing stupid things.
40
The Hollywood Reporter
Frank Scheck
Unfortunately, the gags start to wear thin shortly around the 15-minute mark, not to mention the fact that they pale in comparison to the real-life indignities endured by the members of the "Jackass" crew.
38
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
I laughed, then I wished it was funnier, then I just wished it would end.
38
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
In fairness, the new movie from the Lorne Michaels machine does have its amusing moments. It's just most of them can also be found in "Napoleon," "Talladega Nights," "Eagle vs. Shark," and any installment of "Jackass."
30
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Hot Rod might be called the poor man’s “Eagle vs. Shark” if “Eagle vs. Shark” were not already the poor man’s “Napoleon Dynamite.” It certainly lacks the conceptual purity and aesthetic integrity of the “Jackass” movies. In any case poor certainly describes the quality of the filmmaking.
30
Film Threat
Michael Ferraro
There are enough laughs here to fill a five-minute skit but sadly, the film lasts a lot longer than that.
25
New York Post
Kyle Smith
Hot Rod started to go wrong at about the time someone in casting said, "You know what? I'll bet America's just about ready for the comedy stylings of Sissy Spacek."
25
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Hot Rod never establishes its own personality.
25
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
Once again, something that might have been a faintly amusing sketch on "Saturday Night Live" -- maybe even a tolerable 30-minute short, had the writing been more clever -- gets tortured into the shape of a feature film.
16
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
The filmmakers lack any visual sense of humor and any talent for sustaining long-form comedy; the stunts have less wallop than a TV bloopers show and the Oedipal family slapstick goes around in circles, in more ways than one.
 The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 76 User Votes
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