National Lampoon's Pucked
Starring: Jon Bon Jovi, Estella Warren, David Faustino, Nora Dunn, Cary Elwes, Curtis Armstrong, Pat Kilbane, Dot-Marie Jones, Mark Povinelli, J. David Shapiro, Al Wiggins, Jonathan Furr, Angela Bennett, Danielle James, Dana Barron, Pam Galle, Kerry Maher, Gizza Elizondo, Cari Ginger, Zac Gardner, William Dozier, Sean 'AKIL' Wingate, Parker Webb, Tom Madson, Chris Carrara, Kate Bradley Simmon, Emily Kent, Sal Catalano, Ty Schimek
Directed by: Arthur Hiller

Released in the US: February 10th, 2006
Released in the UK: TBA 2006

Reviewed by: Paul Heath

Jon Bon Jovi makes a radical career move and opts for a comedy, and a National Lampoon comedy at that. Bon Jovi plays Frank Hopper, a bit of a dreamer who, when shopping for his mother's birthday present, happens to apply for a credit card (using false information, and surprisingly gets accepted. With the money, Hopper decides to put it into one of his ideas, to create the Woman's World Hockey League. Once he starts the ball rolling, he finds himself being sent more credit cards and before he knows it has racked up a whopping $300,000 in debt, just when the league starts to make some of that money back. Once again his dream fails to come to fruition as he lands himself in court for credit card fraud.

I'm a huge fan of the National Lampoon comedies. Animal House is perhaps my fave of all, though the Chevy Chase Vacation series (even the later DTV sequels) all hold a special place in my DVD collection. Writer Matty Simmons has played a part in all of these movies, be it scribe or producer (he's listed as producer on Animal House and Class Reunion as well as the Vacations). Here he takes the screenplay duties with three other writers, William Dozier, Sal Catalano and Shakes Mutlin who makes his debut. That's FOUR writers! Okay, so we must expect something special right? Well, whenever there are more than a couple writers on a project, for me it always spells disaster. I thought it was here, but somehow the film managed to slightly save itself in the final reel. But hey, let's go into what I thought was wrong with the movie first.

First up, it screams DTV. I don't mean that in nasty way, as the DTV market is an up and coming area of the industry, and hey, there are some great movies coming out on the home format. It just seems to me that the filmmaker's blew all of their money on Jon Bon Jovi and cut corners on a) the script, b) the production values and c) the laughs - an essential part of any comedy don't you think? In this age of quality films like THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, DODGEBALL and WEDDING CRASHERS at our cinemas, films like this will fall flat on their arse as the script isn't half as good as any of those aforementioned movies. Sure, a lot more money was spent on those flicks, but simply this screenplay wasn't funny (FOUR writers), and if I'm honest, it was extremely dated.It's the sort of film that would easily fall into place in the mid-eighties, but never today. How many more times do we have to laugh at the little skinny guy who pulls the odd large lady (and subsequently falls for her). Answer: As many times as movies ask us too, so long as it's funny!

Second of all, we have to have actors playing characters that are funny. If we have a non-comedic actor, the script has to be of such comedic quality and gag packed that it doesn't matter who plays the role. If you have an untested non-comedic actor in a role then you have to have a great script. Take AMERICAN PIE. The screenplay was so darn funny, and the direction so hot that Jason Bigg's Jim could have been played by any unknown actor (and I'm not taking anything away from Mr. Bigg's performance with this point). The screenplay for PUCKED wasn't so hot, and neither was Mr. Bon Jovi, though I do like his work on other projects like Ally McBeal or even the wonderful romantic comedy MOONLIGHT AND VALENTINO. I think that he's suited to this genre. Definitely not comedy. Definitely not this 'comedy'.

Now for the plus points. There are a couple redeeming features and most belong to the members of the hockey teams. There are some hot women in this movie! And they're topless in some scenes too. Damn! I spent a little time on the Internet this afternoon looking at their BIOS on the IMDB to see if they are credited with any other flicks (that's the sad life that I lead folks). Then there's the lovely Estella Warren, who should be in more really (she's in the new Roger Awary movie). Despite my panning of the script, as I said earlier on in the review, the third act really picked up. I love the courtroom scenes and the stuff with Cary Elwes (does this dude play anyone other than scumbags). There were genuinely a couple of funny moments late on, and the women fighting over Elvis at the end was amusing. I also like the midget fight at the beginning of the movie too.

All in all, I think that this movie's 'home' is not in cinemas, but on the home format. It's the sort of movie where you need to sit with a pizza, a couple of mates and a few beers. It's not a bad, bad movie, but there certainly have been better comedies on our screens recently. It won't give you a bad night out at the flicks, but it won't be remembered for long after you've walked out of those multiplex doors.

GRADE: D

Paul Heath