tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post9165648683528197411..comments2024-03-29T03:44:30.259-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: Rulebook Casefile: Motivation and Sympathy in Talladega NightsMatt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-48665939930941241352012-10-24T19:03:31.546-04:002012-10-24T19:03:31.546-04:00I'm more partial to STEP BROTHERS, which, at l...I'm more partial to STEP BROTHERS, which, at least for the first half, has the most dramatic potential of and more organic conflict than any of the other films McKay has made. But it's all squandered with a meaningless third act about nothing.j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-75858251226456859072012-10-24T16:13:23.801-04:002012-10-24T16:13:23.801-04:00I agree that McKay is maddeningly sloppy with his ...I agree that McKay is maddeningly sloppy with his storytelling, and coasts on the gags, but I'm amazed at his ability to get me to put my mind in storage and just go along with it. <br /><br />TALLADEGA NIGHTS is the only McKay movie where I actually kind of cared about Farrell's character, which is why I gave it a second look to see how they maintained my sympathy for such a potentially loathsome character. Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-77315525999863106812012-10-24T16:00:13.494-04:002012-10-24T16:00:13.494-04:00Really? I feel like I'm only able to understa...Really? I feel like I'm only able to understand what you're talking about in this post because I haven't seen the movie in a while. Adam McKay is many things, including a successful producer, a skilled talent spotter and a great gag writer, but a talented storyteller? Huh. In almost every one of this films, the story structure, the dramatic arcs, the motivations of his characters are the worst parts, better as examples of what not to do. TALLADEGA NIGHTS is actually worse, on the hole, than the bulk of the deleted scenes for it, which contain some of the funniest and most interesting material he's ever shot.<br /><br />The "laugh at"/"laugh with" dichotomy deserves to be ellaborated, perhaps in some comedy reformulation of your "badass to vulnerability" ratio or maybe also as a new way to think about the insights of Jerk Week when it's filtered through a comedic context.<br /><br />I'm thinking in particular of EASTBOUND AND DOWN. Have you made it through all three seasons? The integrity of a character like Kenny Powers can barely survive one season. By the third, I'd kind of stopped caring because all the stuff that was happening just didn't seem to square with who he actually was anymore and I simply stopped watching. It's really, really hard to create a jerk who's ridiculous enough to keep us laughing at him and still sympathetic enough to have us on his side. Casting Will Ferrel or Danny McBride (no wonder they are kindred spirits) in any given role is a big help, but it's not enough.<br /><br />Larry David's persona on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM is probably the comedic jerk who comes the closest to successfully pulling it off for me again and again. And it's largely because, no matter how abrasive or unreasonable he might be, he's usually rebelling against aspects of the larger society that we can all relate to hating and laughing at.j.s.noreply@blogger.com