Comedy, Seriously

You wouldn't think that the guys behind the brilliant satire newspaper The Onion, the precursor and probable inspiration to The Daily Show, would need a refresher course on comedy, but it seems to be so. I've recently watched Drop Dead Gorgeous on DVD, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as an over-the-top black comedy mockumentary. Perhaps because this hasn't actually ever been done before on a large scale, The Onion AV Club reviewed the movie as a film made by morons for morons. Excuse me, but you didn't fucking get it. Taking Christopher Guest's patented, and wearing thin, deadpan mockumentary style and throwing overtly excessive comedic plot devices and funny, stereotypical characters on top of it is something new. And quite entertaining, were one to step out of his film professor loafers for an hour and a half. Yes, one of the characters is mentally deficient, and yes, he's used for cheap laughs. It's only a movie, so get over your indignant reaction and enjoy Will Sasso's performance. Yes, it's predictable, but so are all slapstick comedies. The point is to enjoy the gags and the actors, and The Onion didn't bother to mention Brittany Murphy's show-stealing performance or multiple-Emmy-winning Allison Janney showing up as the foul-mouthed heart and soul of the film.

At any rate, I suppose I've made my point, and managed to work my irritation at The AV Club into a DVD review. I only brought it up because I was irritated with their review of Underworld, which they thought was overly moody and derivative. For the last time, guys, I don't care if it's derivative! A movie can be entertaining even if it's in a genre that's already been done by a more heavily-hyped flick. It's like saying Deftones' White Pony is pointless, because alterna-rock has already been done by Nirvana's Nevermind. It's time for The Onion's movie reviewers to take a step back and realize that not all movie-goers are perfectionists; we only want a well-spent two hours.