Review of Postal (2007) by Alex S — 13 Oct 2008

Appropriately enough, this film made me mad but not because of its potentially offensive material (make no mistake, if you are easily offended, this movie may be the death of you). Rather, I was mad that director Uwe Boll, the supposed worst director working today, came so close to actually making a "good" movie and ended up with an almost forced exercise in excess.

The story is slow filler (Postal Dude must save the world from bird flu carrying toys and yes, our hero is named "Postal Dude") for the ridiculous material to play upon (Verne Troyer literally is assaulted by 1,000 monkeys at one point).

Which brings up an interesting point: the movie is so grossly over-the-top that the offensiveness cannot be taken seriously (honestly, most of it is absurd to the point of hilarity, though the opening will shape your enjoyment of the movie) while the pace is so slow that you find yourself waiting for the next random thing to happen (a job interview involving severed heads, Boll playing himself in a German press conference, etc.

). Tasteless? Sure. Offensive? For most, probably (everyone is a target, remember that). Worthy of being dismissed as a futile and failed attempt at "shock" cinema? Not at all. Not a good film but not the worst piece of art to come into a movie theater by any stretch of the imagination.