The Movie: An American Carol (Opening October 3)

The Buzz: Hollywood’s conservative stars get together to spoof the country’s liberals. David Zucker  (Airplane!, The Naked Gun) directs. 

Let’s get scalin’… after the jump

The Trailer: 

The Review: I’m fairly liberal, and I am all for having my political views satirized, if they’re satirized well.

Have you seen Citizen Ruth, the movie Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor made before Election and About Schmidt? It’s about a trashy, pregnant drug addict who gets caught in a political war over whether or not she can keep her baby. The liberals in that movie are viciously mocked, but the jokes are so on-point you have to acknowledge that they’re funny and true. (Swoozie Kurtz’s howling prayer to the moon is one of my favorite scenes of all time.)

And when The Simpsons slam liberal politics, it’s awesome. Remember that one Sideshow Bob episode where he yells that since the Democrats are in power, he’ll be out of prison in two months? That joke is complex because it’s more than just a dumb crack about liberal policies. It arises organically from the story, and it gives unexpected power to the supposed weakling in the scene. 

How ironic that Kelsey Grammer is the voice of Sideshow Bob, since he’s also one of the stars of An American Carol, a movie that seems utterly devoid of intelligent humor.

I haven’t seen the film, of course, so it’s possible there are  sharp barbs tucked in there. But I have seen David Zucker’s most recent directorial efforts–Scary Movie 3 and 4–and I remember the script he wrote for High School High, one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Based on that evidence, I’m guessing his jabs at liberal politics are going to be lame.

The preview supports my theory. Did you see the jokes in there? Lesbians look like men, and they refuse to shave. All Arab men are named Mohammed Hussain. Really? That’s the best they’ve got? 

I guess when you’re politically dominant, you get so smugly superior that you stop respecting your adversaries enough to make intelligent fun of them. You just bludgeon them for being different than you, tell them they don’t have the right to salute the flag, and go have a beer.

The Rating: Zero American flag pins that have “Obama = Osama” written on them.