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Jerky Boys
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by Walt Disney Video
Sales Rank: 1921
Price: $9.99
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I f You love the jerky boys, you will love this movie. I like what the person above me said about this movie being so bad its good. That sums it up. Also you get a cameo of Ozzy and Helmet, so check it out.
Viewer Reviews
If there's one thing America can be counted on to provide, it is this: slapped-together movies looking to quickly cash in on the latest fad. Once in a while, this phenomenon can produce something truly special. (A Hard Day's Night, for example.) Unfortunately, you usually get stuff like The Jerky Boys, a cinematic train wreck featuring amateurish acting, a lifeless and predictable script, and tons of shamelessly recycled material from the Jerky Boys records.
You really have to love Hollywood. Who in the world thought that a couple of guys who make prank calls for a living would make viable movie stars? It boggles the brain. Prank calls depend on improvisation and the element of surprise; after all, most of the humor comes from the fact that the person being pranked isn't 'in' on the joke. So when you build a movie around guys making rehearsed prank phone calls to actors pretending to be offended, you've negated the elements that made the Jerky Boys funny to begin with. Just listen to some of the later Jerky albums, where the material got really weak and many of the 'victims' obviously knew what was going on and simply played along for their own amusement. It's dreadful stuff. It doesn't help that the Jerkys rehash many of their old calls in the movie; honestly, is there an audience for this film besides hardcore Jerky fans who already have that stuff memorized? The Jerkys couldn't be bothered to make all-new material for a full-length movie? Unbelievable.
Amazingly, it gets worse. The screenwriters (assuming any were involved) manage to shoehorn the Jerky Boys (Johnny B. and Kamal) into a silly, paint-by-numbers story where they get mixed up with the Mafia, and try to prank their way out of it. Alan Arkin plays the lead mobster, and let me just say this: Alan, man, if you really need money that badly, E-mail me. I'll try to help you out any way I can. I hate to see a good actor sink so low. Honestly, is there anyone outside of first-year film school hacks that still thinks that using the Mob as goofy movie villains is remotely funny or interesting? Desperation drips from every frame of this film. Johnny B. can come up with all kinds of funny quips on the spot on the albums, but he couldn't think of something interesting to do with a full movie crew and a decent supporting cast? What a waste.
If anything redeems The Jerky Boys, it's some solid acting here and there. Arkin is good, as always, and Johnny B. has enough comic timing and quirky charisma to slap together a passable performance. He doesn't have the chops or looks to be a leading man (or even a major supporting player), but he could have a profitable career doing Funny Sidekick or Voice of A Cartoon Animal roles. His partner Kamal, however, is dead weight. He was pretty useless on the records, too, but he at least provided a sporadic chuckle now and then. On camera, though, he is a total non-entity. Completely devoid of any kind of charisma or acting ability, Kamal just sort of wanders through the movie, looking bewildered. Oddly enough, Kamal will go to great lengths to tell people in interviews that HE was the talented one of the duo. I wonder on what he bases this opinion. The fact that Johnny's characters completely dominate all of their records, and have 98% of the good lines? The way he'll fill in dead spots during a prank call by randomly shrieking or screaming, because he can't think of anything funny to say? Or maybe his performance in this movie, where he could've been unconscious and had the same level of screen presence? Let's just chalk it up to delusion, I guess. (You'd think that the lesser half of a washed-up prank-calling duo wouldn't have diva issues, but such is the life of the quasi-famous.)
Not only was this movie a complete disaster, but the tacky "sell-out" feel of the whole project completely destroyed whatever edge the Jerky Boys had left. Arkin and Johnny B. earn the extra star rating; the rest is a mess. Avoid at all costs, unless you're an aspiring filmmaker and need a full-length example of filmmaking pitfalls to avoid.
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Jerky Boys
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