The Jerky Boys

Directed by James Melkonian, The Jerky Boys follows a couple of slackers (Johnny Brennan’s John and Kamal Ahmed’s Kamal) as they con their way into a criminal organization. Filmmaker Melkonian, working from a script written alongside Brennan, Ahmed, and Rich Wilkes, does a fairly awful job of initially luring the viewer into the erratic proceedings, as The Jerky Boys boasts an opening stretch revolving mostly around the central characters’ decidedly unfunny prank phone calls – with the less-than-enthralling vibe compounded by Brennan and Ahmed’s amateurish, far-from-accomplished efforts to step into their respective figures (ie stellar actors they are not, ultimately). It’s clear, then, that The Jerky Boys does improve slightly once it progresses into a comparatively watchable midsection, with the decent-enough vibe heightened by the presence of charismatic folks like Alan Arkin and William Hickey within the supporting cast (as well as the inclusion of a few admittedly humorous bits and segments). By the time the tedious, action-packed closing stretch rolls around, however, The Jerky Boys has squandered whatever goodwill it was able to accumulate and cemented its place as a misfire deserving of its relative obscurity.

** out of ****