A Night at the Roxbury (1998)
Around 2010, Pepsi ran a commercial with Haddaway’s 1993 hit “What is Love” playing while everyone started bobbing their head in time with the beat. I looked up the music video which, like many music videos, it’s somewhat inscrutable, as the dancing and scenery don’t particularly lend themselves to adding depth or context to the song.
But one thing stood out: there’s no scene where everyone bobs their head in time with the music.
Turns out that head-bobbing meme seems to be from 1998’s “A Night at the Roxbury,” where the song is played repeatedly and Will Farrell and Chris Kattan bob their heads in sync.
There’s something weirdly comforting about watching Will Farrell bounce around a film set like a complete idiot. He’s so clearly comfortable with playing a total man-child, and has done so for more than two decades to critical and financial success.
I found “A Night at the Roxbury” (1998) in my movie collection, and I was curious. “Steve” is Farrell’s moron archetype, and the script feels like the original draft of “Step Brothers,” just with the setting being near the end of the 90s and without psuedo-adoption being the main plot point. In fact, having seen a majority of Farrell’s catalogue, I feel like this might have been the genesis his type-cast roles.
Like every other movie set before 2000, the setting is full of cultural context that I never got to experience myself, which is almost as interesting as the storyline.
That said: this isn’t a deep movie. In fact, it’s not a particularly good movie. Ridiculous, predictable, and with a cast of characters who aren’t very endearing.
I have a particularly bad copy of the movie too, which means the frame-rate is unacceptably low - a trait which has made me stop watching many movies before. For some reason, for this particular flick, it fit perfectly and I kept watching through.
Maybe because the entire movie felt like it was produced by two college students anyway, so the low-quality just fit.
I can’t recommend this movie.
Nothing quotable, nothing ground breaking, no creative insults (a la “Cotton Headed Ninny-Muggins” from “Elf” a few years later).
But it’s also not the worst movie I’ve ever seen.
If you’re a fan of Will Farrell’s shenanigans, you’ll enjoy this.
Otherwise, let this film stay 21 years in the past.
#ANightAtTheRoxbury #MiniReview #ClawReviews
