An American Carol (2008)

Let's be realistic.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I got suckered into watching this travesty by the cast. This movie made me not want to watch any of the cast in anything else they do. Stereotypes rule in this waste of film. Rather than being a clever satire is was a poorly executed hate film. Portraying people like Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell as such total jerks is little better than mean-spirited name calling. I really expected a modicum of cleverness from the concept but was sadly disappointed.If you haven't seen this yet, please don't waste your time!

Michael Malone (Kevin Farley) is an American documentary maker out to abolish Fourth of July celebrations, perceiving it as the ultimate representation of what is wrong in America. However, he is visited by three ghosts who intend to change the way he views his country.Firstly, David Zucker appears to have fallen a long way since the heights of Airplane and Police Squad – although too many Scary Movie sequels and "spoof" movies on the resume show the path to these new depths of garbage. Unfortunately, we live in a world where bowing to the lowest common denominator in taste and quality still makes money.As somebody outside of the USA, perhaps this is not a movie targeted at me but it feels like the worst kind of low brow comedy, which takes easy and cheap shots at "anti-American" film-makers. Although the target is clear (Kevin Farley's characterisation is in no doubt), if questioning the way things work automatically marks you as an anarchist (or "anti- American", in this case) then what is a democracy? I may not always agree with your point but would not deny you the right to say it. "Freedom of Speech" still exists, right?Leslie Neilson appears as a grandfather, telling the story we see play out. Although always good to see Neilson, he has little to do in this movie besides one "action" scene. Trace Adkins appears as both The Angel of Death and himself. As himself, he is apparently the ultimate representation of America and what it means to be a true American. The role is fairly small, which is probably best, as even if you enjoy his musical output, I'm not sure feature films are his future. Kelsey Grammar as General Patton has an overly long yet mildly amusing role but is ultimately wasted in it. His feature film output will not garner awards – Down Periscope any one? – but he may be the highlight in an otherwise dull production with few redeeming features.Bad acting, cheap shots at those willing to question the norm and "jokes" that will make many wince – we should be allowed to charge the film-makers for our time spent watching this rubbish.Overall, if you are a fan of the spoof movies of recent years, give this a try. If you are a Michael Moore hater, give this a try. If you don't fall in to either of those camps, don't waste your time or money.

If there was any intelligence behind this spoof of the Michael Moore documentaries about secrets our government is keeping from us, I might give this a slightly crooked thumbs up. But instead of giving us something to make us think, it only gives me the idea that the writers didn't (think), and instead, gave us something that stinks.First of all, to take "A Christmas Carol" (again!) and make it into a modern day spoof of America's lack of morals when it comes to butting into the world's business (while not taking care of its own), is unoriginal in itself. Then, to use the kind of humor that made audiences roar with "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun" movies, and not give anymore than a few laughs is a waste of time, talent, and film. These kinds of spoofs were either hit or miss (most of them the later), and it is simply because comedy, to be successful, must either be subtle or have some heart in it. "Michael Morgan", as he is called here, is a rather wimpy fellow, a weak spoof of a very strong and opinionated man, whom whether you like or not, you can't help but admire because of his convictions and how he sticks to them.The only really clever gimmick was the choice of who the three ghosts would be, most notably Kelsey Grammar's dynamic version of General George S. Patton. Sadly, it is all told as a children's story by a goofy grandfather (Leslie Nielsen of course) at a Fourth of July Picnic. This childish method cheapens something already pretty low-budgeted, since the film looks like it was made for a series of "Saturday Night Live" skits rather than the big screen. While some of the weakest gag spoofs had some laughs ("Fatal Instict", "Spy Hard", etc.), this one only has a few. Other attempted gags just fall into the lame category.

There is plenty to make fun of regarding the extremists on both the left and the right. Unfortunately, this film is all about cheap and hamfisted polemics and nothing about humor. It really appears to have been written over the course of a few hours and a few bottles of wine. And its really a shame, because I've enjoyed many of the films that Zucker has done in the past. But this time he brought all of his anger and butthurt feelings to the table instead of his comedy chops. This was nothing more than a personal vanity project of Zucker's and it showed.EPIC FAIL