Review of An American Carol (2008) by Scott M — 17 Oct 2008

I went into "An American Carol" with low expectations, specifically because of the numerous bad reviews already in evidence. But since few of those reviews actually gave much in the way of details as to why it was a poor film, and because one in specific called it "a cultural artifact" by way of backhanded praise, I felt I needed to see this "artifact" for myself and ponied up the nearly ten bucks for admission.

I was surprised to find a movie that is very much in line with the Zucker tradition --- skewering the target subject with as many over-the-top jokes as they can get away with, plus some they shouldn't for good measure.

As a result, I spent most of the film actually laughing out loud. So did most of the rest of the audience, to my shock: this was supposed to be a BAD film! Where's all the really "not funny" stuff I was told was in here by so many highly-respected movie critics?

Personally, I thought putting the whole film in the perspective of a semi-senile Leslie Neilsen telling tall tales to little kids during a Fourth of July picnic was a great touch. Neilsen's monologue is delivered in his usual befuddledly-straightfaced fashion, and tends to meander around in a rather addled way that pokes fun at the very tale he's trying to tell.

It seems baldly obvious that the reason for so many thumbs-down reactions is based on whose ox is being gored this time around. This sort of satirical parody is just as funny being applied against Ronald Reagan and other right-wing roastees, as it is when Rosie and Michael are on the hit list...but then again, I'm politically independent and consider myself a centrist, so I get to laugh at both sides.

We don't hear any complaints (except from the right) about SNL parodies of Sarah Palin or, for us old-time SNL fans, when Gerald Ford was portrayed by Chevy Chase. We spent years laughing whenever Michael J. Fox's character on "Family Ties" attributed his callous disregard for humanity and soulless pursuit of personal wealth as being a Republican ideal. We've chuckled to see Bush the Younger portrayed as a fizzing bomb in a cowboy hat saying out-of-touch lines in the panels of "Doonesbury".

Hoist on the same petard in "Carol", the left produces the same reaction --- suddenly, we're expected to believe parody and satire must now hew to hard facts and attention to the smallest detail, which is the sort of thing we're used to hearing from Republicans complaining about an Al Franken routine or an episode of Jon Stewart's "Daily Show".

"An American Carol" is genuinely funny, for its intended target audience, just like any other parody or satire. If you consider yourself part of that audience, it's definitely worth the ten bucks.