Review of Best Worst Movie (2009) by Steve G — 24 Mar 2011

BEST WORST MOVIE is the chronicle of unlikely cult sensation TROLL 2, a film that is so spectacularly wrong in every way that it's somehow right. As a long-time fan, this movie makes total sense to me, but what really impresses me is how this doc conveys the enthusiasm of the fanbase to wide audiences.

TROLL 2 is the kind of movie that you build raucous parties around, but unlike similarly laughable dreck like THE ROOM, there's no irony behind my affection for it. It's just such a sincere, heartfelt failure, a film that's existence is every bit as unlikely as masterpieces like THE GODFATHER or CITIZEN KANE that it's impossible not to feel attached. And yes, it's very, very funny.

BEST WORST MOVIE is directed by Michael Paul Stephenson, who played the lead role in TROLL 2, but the main focus of the film is on George Hardy, the affable, larger-than-life small town dentist who had his one and only acting gig in the notorious 1990 flop. Hardy had moved past the film's embarassing failure, until the news reached him that the film had become something of an underground phenomenon, culminating in international screenings with a rabid fanbase. Suddenly, Hardy and the rest of his co-stars, most of whom look downright perplexed by the film's sudden popularity, are attending sold-out screenings and finding themselves the focus of hundreds of adoring fans.

More than an examination of the emerging phenomenon, BEST WORST MOVIE manages to be an endearing showcase of fandom, as well as an oddly moving personal film about dashed dreams and second chances. There's a fantastically bizarre menagerie of people on display, the most memorable of which is the egomaniacal, slightly deluded Italian director, Claudio Fragasso, who seems to genuninely believe he's made a great film and doesn't understand why people seem to find his work funny.

BEST WORST MOVIE will probably be appreciated best by people who've seen the eponymous TROLL 2, but really, there's something here for anyone.