Review of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) by Glenn G — 01 Jul 2016

THIS IS SPINAL POP - My Review of POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING (3 Stars).

One's enjoyment of POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING, the feature length mockumentary from the famed SNL Lonely Island trio (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone) depends on your experience with BEHIND THE MUSIC-style exposes or such promotional features as those starring such recent pop icons as Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers. If you're not keyed into that element of pop culture you may find POPSTAR to be an exasperating experience. For me, I went into with THIS IS SPINAL TAP memories in my head and had a great time, despite the fact that the film doesn't quite reach such heights as the granddaddy of them all.

Our trio, who star and co-wrote the script, with Schaffer and Taccone directing, play members of a once-popular boy band whose lead singer Conner4Real (Samberg) splits from the group to launch a successful solo career. The action picks up with Conner launching a tour to support his flop of a second album. Will he choose his solo career over his friendship with his former band mates?

That's about the extent of the conflict in this film. It's very simple and the targets are easy, yet the beauty is in the details. Every scene in which they skewer TMZ, with Will Arnett hilariously leading his lounging crew in a surreal display of over-emoting, perfectly achieves the level of satire intended. Chris Redd perfectly embodies his role as the rising star who joins the tour and sabotages Conner's career. A certain A-list superstar nearly steals the film as the too eager tour chef with some not-so-hidden talents. I loved how Taccone is coerced into wearing a Daft Punk-style helmet over his head to hammer home how irrelevant he is to Conner's band or how as his DJ, he doesn't need anything more than an old iPOD to do his job.

The real highlights, however, are the musical numbers. Any fans of SNL's "D*ck In A Box" song will find plenty of laughs in the indelible "Equal Rights" number in which Samberg extols the virtues of same-sex marriage while simultaneously assuring his audience that he's not gay himself. "Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)" may be the first tune to compare sexual intercourse with a sausage-skirt-sporting woman to the killing of one of the world's most famous terrorists.

Not every joke lands, but enough do to make this a more than adequate sketch comedy. Its heart slyly sneaks up on you to reveal a film about true friendship. But don't worry, the silly gags, the jabs at entitled pop stars, the misbehaving, the gross expenditure, and the hashtag-centric way of speaking stay front and center throughout this charming yet forgettable comedy.