Sundance Review: Adventures of Power
Filed under: Comedy, Sundance, Theatrical Reviews
Wow. You just don't expect to see a movie this awful playing at the Sundance Film Festival (even if a good deal of the film was shot in Utah). Truth be told, I don't expect to see a movie like this anywhere, but man oh man. I always try to think of something positive to say, no matter what the movie is, but this experience has defeated, deflated and depressed me. I'm actually a little irritated about it.
The flick is a very broad comedy called Adventures of Power, because the lead character is named Power. It's a waaaayyyy-too-late Napoleon Dynamite retread that would have been just as witless had it arrived two weeks after that overrated little hit. For the record, I have nothing against writer / director / lead actor Ari Gold; as a matter of fact, this movie was my very first experience with the guy -- despite the fact that he's already appeared in several indies and some award-winning short films. But going only by what I just witnessed in Adventures of Power, Mr. Gold is A) a plainly bland and lifeless director, B) a (gotta say it) pretty damn terrible screenwriter, and C) a lead actor with the screen presence of cottage cheese.
In all honesty I hope Gold's next movie is a breakout indie smash like Juno or Little Miss Sunshine, but good gosh a'mighty, is this movie a ten-ton turd. Here's the story: A mega-geeky man-child who wears headbands, talks funny, and obsesses over breakfast cereal decides to leave his grungy hometown of Lode, New Mexico, so as to follow his dream of becoming a world-class "air drummer." (Insert crickets here.) Had Adventures of Power arrived as some sort of YouTube video or Saturday Night Live skit, it probably could have been pretty darn funny. Or, more likely, slightly amusing and then never to be watched again.
But Ari Gold takes his already-flimsy one-joke premise and proceeds to stretch it like the world's longest and most horribly annoying rubber band. And it's a pretty agonizing affair. I'd love to say that veteran laugh-providers Michael McKean and Jane Lynch provide some respite from Gold's ceaseless mugging, but that'd be more like fan-friendly charity than actual truth. It'd be great to admit that Adrian Grenier's extended cameo as a silly country singer (named Dallas Houston! crickets! ) provides a small beacon of humor in an otherwise witless wasteland, but that would be a lie. The jokes arrive with consistent thuds, the pacing is all off, the dead-end subplots about striking workers and a deaf girl exist as nothing but vacant filler ... ugh, enough.
Or maybe I'm just being too rough on what is essentially a mindless little farce that's meant to do nothing beyond deliver a few stray giggles. OK, if the flick arrived as a video store exclusive, maybe. But at Sundance? C'mon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-25-2008 @ 11:16AM
Tracy Mangum said...
Wow, that sounds terrible. I do have to say that as a multimedia producer in Salt Lake City, we do have a lot of really great work being done here. Sure, we aren't NY or LA, but a lot of creative and talented people live and work here. Don't judge us based on one hack's work. :)
http://scoopsmangum.blogspot.com
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1-25-2008 @ 11:25AM
kevjohn said...
Man, I have GOT to see this film!! If for no other reason than to ensure I have enough viable candidates for my Worst of 2008 list at the end of the year. Hopefully it'll be MST3K bad.
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1-25-2008 @ 3:11PM
Doug Johnson said...
ADVENTURES IN POWER is more than a NACHO LIBRE/Napolean Dynamite. It's hilarious for one. The sold out show I attended was filled with laughter and happy tears. It strikes in the chord in the very least. While it could use a touch of editing (word is it was rushed into the fest) like FORREST GUMP, it will be hated by high brow critics with no use for "feel good" with a touch of sap. The reality is, people love this movie...and those who hate it, are dark folks who live for dark comedy.
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1-25-2008 @ 4:31PM
Doug Johnson said...
More on striking a chord...I cried five times, thus, FORREST GUMP came to mind. ADVENTURES IN POWER is a film about hope. It's a film about belief in oneself, which some, obviously many, can relate to, as after the show and a number of roaring ovations, the entire SLC theater crowd stayed to sing their praise of the production for 25 minutes.
This is the first time I've seen happen.
Perhaps if the negative reviewer had stayed past the first 5 minutes, and not walked out, he would have been pleasantly surprised.
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1-25-2008 @ 4:43PM
LRS62 said...
Make sure you go vote on IMDB.COM, Mr. Johnson, so your friends/brother/lover's film gets a really high numerical rating.
Fraud or dipshit? You're probably both.
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1-25-2008 @ 4:50PM
LRS62 said...
Actually, looks like he already did. Out of 6 votes, 3 give it a "10" rating.
And some people think Netflix's movie rating system is bad...
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1-26-2008 @ 2:01PM
Doug Johnson said...
LSR62: It's tough to argue with the sold-out SLC show I attended, the crowd's outrageous laughter, the happy tears, and so many thrilled film-goers. ADVENTURES OF POWER is an instant cult hit.
It's a cult hit because POWER believes in himself and his art without question. Time and again he is tested (like we all are) and time and again he rises above, honors everyone he meets, etc. Power's love for people resonates in the film, and this makes it different from the NACHO LIBRES. I'm lucky enough to know some POWERs in real life, and it was amazing to see them on film. Perhaps if you stretch your imagination a bit, you can comprehend.
I'm not sure why you doubt my take on such a special film; not sure who pissed on your Cheerios; not sure why you're negative about something so amazingly positive. Perhaps you are one of many who waited in the cold at the pre-screening and were denied. For whatever reason you have doubted my appreciation of the film, I can present you with a few hundred who feel the same way I do. Can you do the same for me?
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1-27-2008 @ 1:53AM
Susan said...
I LOVED this movie and so did everyone else in the audience! Hurray for Ari Gold!
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2-04-2008 @ 5:48PM
AO said...
I saw that movie- it sucks. The only people who didn't say it sucked after the screening I was in were old people who said it was "cute"
I agree with this review. This movie belongs as a shitty SNL skit, not a Sundance film- but there were other trash film at Sundance...The Broken, August, and Choke- oh christ, Choke was my only walkout of the festival.
so on a positive note, Choke sucked more
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