Hot Rod

For Rod Kimball, performing stunts is a way of life, and all of the accidents and injuries are just a regular outcome that happens to him every single time. Rod dreams big, y’see. He not only wants to be a stuntman like his father was before him, he also wants to beat the crap out of his stepdad, Frank. Frank doesn’t respect Rod, or his dreams of being the best local stuntman around, and that really chaps Rod’s ass. So when Frank falls ill, needing an expensive new heart, Rod devises his most outrageous stunt yet in order to raise money for Frank's operation, hoping against hope that he can make Frank healthy again… so he can kick that old man’s ass.

I don’t know how I’ve never seen this ridiculous-ass movie before.

Hot Rod is your usual kind of comedy where you’re not quite sure if the actors are portraying children, or just adults who are incredible losers, but who cares, because it is ridiculous and hilarious. Hilarious! It reminded me a lot of Supertroopers, as it has the same kind of constant smart-ass weirdo comedy. With his huge face, his gigantic smile, and his occasional mustache, you just can’t help but root for Rod, even though he’s dressed up in a cheap, homemade Evel Knievel outfit every day, stars and cape and all, like a giant toddler who refuses to take off his grocery store Spider-man Halloween costume for days afterwards.

The story goes like this…

Rod lives at home with his mom, his stepdad, and his step-brother. All his life, Rod has been told of the death-defying derring-do of his long-deceased father, a stuntman contemporary of the legendary daredevil Evel Knievel, and Rod dreams of emulating him. Unfortunately, no matter how many stunts he might attempt, he just can’t get the respect of his stepfather, Frank, who routinely defeats him in their weekly fights. Don’t misunderstand, these fights aren’t abusive beatings, they’re tests of manhood, akin to the bygone traditions of the ancient world of the gladiators, a remnant of a time when two warriors born would enter the arena in order to prove their mettle in the time-honored test of hand-to-hand combat. As a result, if there’s one thing Rod wants more than to be a great stuntman, it’s to beat the shit out Frank. Just one time. So when Rod learns that Frank needs a heart transplant that his family just can not afford, all hope of defeating his stepdad in glorious battle, Mano a Mano, seem to be dashed, his dream of trouncing the old bastard seemingly no longer attainable. Left with no other option, Rod vows to raise the necessary $50,000, because once Frank is healthy again, Rod will be able to beat the crap out of him in an honorale victory. To raise that money, Rod decides that he will jump 15 school buses on his moped.

It will be both his greatest stunt, and also the first one he ever lands… hopefully.

Sissy Spacek is fantastic as Rod’s loving mother, a woman who just wants her boys to stop fighting, but also is seemingly unbothered as they crash through walls and whip hidden ninja stars at each other. No one but Ian McShane could be Frank either, the wild-eyed and ferocious dragon that Rod chases, his stepdad, his nemesis, his raison d'etre. Seeing him and Andy Samburg pummel each other somehow seems strangely natural. It was simply meant to be. Isla Fischer is perfect as the girl of Rod’s dreams, a down for anything young woman who has found the real world disappointing, so why not spend the summer back home hanging out in a convenience store parking lot with some townie jackasses, doing doughnuts on a moped and drinking slushies, especially as she slowly figures out that Will Arnett, playing her obvious asshole of a boyfriend, is an huge asshole. Bill Hader, Jorma Taccone, and Danny McBride round out the cast as Rod’s loyal crew, and they’re potatoes and carrots to Samburg’s meat, their simple presence in any scene is often half the reason the movie works. They’re just funny.

Everyone is funny. The film’s ensemble is having a good time, and it shows.

The rest of the reason the movie works is because it’s sincere. It doesn’t shit on Rod and his friends and family. They’re all goofballs, yes, but not in a bad way. They’re technically losers, sure, obviously, but that’s not how the film portrays them, opting instead to focus on their own weird ambitions in their strange little world, and their pure belief in themselves and each other, Rod and his friends all so sure of themselves, every time, that this time Rod will succeed.

Even though he never does.

But honestly, the story isn’t the reason to watch and rewatch this film. The story isn’t the magic. The magic is in the Footloose-like dance sequence in the forest. It’s in the cool beans remix. It’s a dejected Will Arnett screaming “Babe! No!” over and over, or when the Hot Rod crew are all first introducing themselves to Ilsa Fischer, each one helplessly declaring to her that their defining characteristic is that they like to party, no matter how many times they’re told to choose something else. It’s Richardson handing out fliers around town. It’s the sudden parade that just as suddenly becomes a huge riot, and Danny McBride’s straight-faced condemnation of that riot after the fact, all while holding a looted television.

It’s ridiculous and hilarious. I loved it.

In the end, Hot Rod is the classic story of a young man with a big dream, a dream to beat his stepdad to a pulp, and to raise his bloody fists to the world in triumph. It is also a film that dares to answer the eternal question: Who would win in a fight?

A grilled cheese… or a taco?