Hot Rod

Directed by Akiva Schaffer, Hot Rod follows Andy Samberg’s Rod Kimble as he sets out to raise money for his stepfather’s (Ian McShane’s Frank) life-saving surgery by performing a dangerous stunt involving 15 school buses. It’s a familiar, well-worn premise that is, for the most part, employed as a springboard for a series of gleefully absurd (and hilarious) comedic set-pieces, as filmmaker Schaffer, armed with Pam Brady’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced and perpetually irreverent endeavor that benefits substantially from the top-notch efforts of a superb cast – with Samberg’s delightful, engaging turn as the affable hero matched by first-class periphery players like Sissy Spacek, Bill Hader, Chris Parnell, and Will Arnett. (The latter is especially entertaining as Rod’s smug romantic rival for Isla Fisher’s Denise.) And although Schaffer’s unabashedly off-the-wall approach does result in a very small handful of narrative lulls, Hot Rod ultimately builds towards a thoroughly compelling and satisfying final stretch that ensures the whole thing concludes on a palpably positive note – which does, in the end, cement the picture’s place as an often laugh-out-loud funny comedy that rarely overstays its welcome.

*** out of ****