A mess of a movie

I've never seen any of Shane's Youtube videos and I have no intention of watching any. So I don't know what he does on them or if they are funny or not.

Not Cool isn't the worst movie ever made. It's far from good though. It's a below average movie, made by a guy who relies on cheap jokes and lazy characters.

I have no problem with gross out humor or broad comedy. I like John Waters and the Farrelly Brothers. I don't even think Not Cool is that gross or edgy.

I have three problems with the movie. First off, it feels like two movies battling each other. If you're going to do an over the top, gross out comedy, you can't try to wedge in heart. Yes, you need character arcs and a story behind the jokes, but the more heartfelt scenes just felt out of place.

Second, most of the acting is bad. I had a big problem with Scott as a character. He was supposed to be the most popular guy in high school who comes home, but he felt more like he was a loser in high school. He wasn't hanging out with friends, he didn't come off like a guy who was homecoming king and slept with tons of girls. He seemed more shy and timid. Even when he is with his crazy girlfriend, it doesn't seem like he likes her. He's more scared of her. I just didn't see him as a popular jerk, who then gets more of a heart. The story ends up coming off like an effeminate, shy guy, who loves his hair and shaves his head to prove he likes Tori.

I did like Tori, she worked well. And Scott's dad and sister weren't bad either.

I did like Drew Monson who played Joel. He was funny and had a unique vibe. Now, I don't know if he's gay in real life, but in the movie, he comes off as a gay guy, trying to be straight. So it didn't work for me. But I can see him being in other stuff and being a lot better.

The rest of the acting was really bad. There's a difference between broad and cartoonish. Some of the actors were so over the top that it made it less funny. If they acted normal, saying something outrageous, it would be funnier. A perfect example is the aunt. She is acting like a crazy woman so over tye top, waving her arms around, talking about UFOs. If she looked and acted totally normal and then said really matter of factly all the stuff she saye, it would be funnier. When they are in the Incline, high and mooning, it would've been funnier to have a reaction shot of people seeing them. Tori's parents doing arobics is funny, but having the mom crap her pants and then hear a corny squishing sound effect makes it less funny. At the bus station, when we first see Tori's sister, she is moving her cane around and looking like a crazy woman. It's just bad acting, like a Troma movie.

That brings me to my second problem. The comedy is cheap, lame and misguided. A good example is the homeless man. The scene where he says he eats his own *beep* and then does it. It needed at least a reaction shot. A reaction shot would've made it funnier. There were a lot of times that there weren't reaction shots, which would've been more funny than the joke. I heard John Cleese once say that "A man acting crazy isn't as funny as a man, watching a man act crazy." And the problem with the comedy is there's too much acting crazy, without people reacting to them. I know a lot of people are saying the movie is racist, I don't think it's racist, but it's misguided. It's a guy who doesn't know how to be funny witnout saying random, outrageous stuff. It's being cheap and lazy. So when you resort to making a racist or homophobic joke, it's an easy laugh. The same way cursing can be an easy laugh. It just shows Shane's lack of understanding comedy.

And lastly, it's really a mixture of all of it, blaming the directing and the script. You have a very humdrum story that you put these crazy characters in. You needed a bigger plot. The characters overtook the plot and the movie ends up feeling more like a sketch comedy show, than a movie. It's more like a bunch of bits than a full story. It just doesn't work well. You had a writer, who wasn't a comedy writer, working with a director who doesn't fully understand comedy and is very egomaniacal. I do think if you had a comedy writer, writing the script and knew comedy and has made a couple of conedies, I do think the movie would've worked better. I do blame Shane for not being a competent director, but I also blame the producers for not bringing in someone who knows comedy to talk to Shane and maybe go over the script and give notes.