Sunday, March 18, 2007
Wild Hogs
****½ Wild Hogs. Comedy.
Directed by: Walt Becker.
Starring: Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy, Ray Liotta, Marisa Tomei.
Wow. I'm all caught up with writing about movies! Woo-hoo! Now to catch up with the books.
We saw this Thursday night at Sembach with the boys. I think I've mentioned before that Sembach is our favorite of the local AAFES theaters. Though I still miss the little tables and lights that they had until they remodeled last year. It's gotten even better, because now Sembach has two choices at their "food court" rather than just the pizza, so we had messy but yummy ribs before the movie.
Wild Hogs is about four now-middle-aged friends whose one indulgence is their weekly motorcycle ride. Doug (Tim Allen) is a dentist with high cholesterol who hasn't been on a vacation in years. Bobby (Martin Lawrence) has taken a year off his job as a plumber to write a self-help book that still isn't finished, and his wife has just arranged for him to get his old job back. Dudley (William H. Macy) is a computer programmer who can't get a date... because he freezes around women. And Woody (John Travolta) is the one they all think has it all--a gorgeous model for a wife and a high-powered job.
But Woody's wife has left him, and he's lost his job, and he's broke. So he comes up with the idea for the four of them to take a cross-country bike trip.
The first half of the movie is just pure fun--depicting their misadventures in beginning the trip. Then they run across the Del Fuegos, a real motorcycle gang, led by Jack (Ray Liotta). Jack takes advantage of Dudley's naivete and steals his bike. They leave, with Dudley in a rusty sidecar, but then Woody, with nothing to lose, decides to get it back.
I'm not going to spoil how he does it, but from then on, Woody's on the run from the Del Fuegos, and simultaneously trying to hide that from the other Wild Hogs.
The climax comes in the little town of Madrid, where they all face what's bothering them and fix their lives--or at least start to. Dudley even finds a girl (Marisa Tomei).
Wild Hogs is full of laughs. And interestingly, it's not Allen and Lawrence who provide most of them. The four actors work well together, despite being vastly different types--or perhaps because of it. What made the movie even funnier for us is that we know someone who's very much like Dudley: very smart, socially inept, an inexhaustable font of trivia, but so full of goodwill and so oblivious to his effect on others that you just can't help liking him.
My only quibbles are that the conflict with the Del Fuegos was resolved a little too easily, and that Dudley's romance wasn't all that believable.
Mostly, it's a wonderfully feel-good movie. If you want a good laugh, and to escape for a couple of hours, I recommend it.
...more
Categories: Movies, 4.5stars, Comedy
Labels: 4.5 stars, comedy, Movies
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Been wanting to see this movie, since am familiar with all the actors in this movie. They've been one of my most favorite TV show and movies in the past. Glad to see atleast this entertained you, as I thought it would be :)
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