Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain

Directed by Paul Briganti, Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain follows three friends (Martin Herlihy’s Martin, John Higgins’ John, and Ben Marshall’s Ben) as they set out to find a valuable gold statue hidden within a nearby forest. Filmmaker Briganti, armed with Herlihy, Higgins, and Marshall’s shaggy screenplay, delivers a wildly uneven yet mostly affable comedy that benefits from the cheerful, ingratiating efforts of its three stars, as the performers offer up agreeable work that goes a long way towards perpetuating the watchable vibe and is heightened by their chemistry together – with their efforts certainly matched by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Bowen Yang and Conan O’Brien. (The latter turns in a scene-stealing, surprisingly engaging turn as Ben’s irascible father that remains a highlight within the proceedings.) And although the picture’s been peppered with a number of laugh-out-loud bits of silliness (eg the trio’s ongoing encounters with a hawk), Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain progresses into an adventure-focused midsection and second half that doesn’t fare quite as well as everything preceding it – which admittedly does diminish the movie’s overall impact. Still, Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain does, for the most part, come off as an entertaining-enough debut for a trio of exceedingly promising comedy stars.

*** out of ****