Film 20 (9/7/2005)

UHF (1989)

Director: Jay Levey

Recommended by: nobody

Has Fentablar seen this before?: Yes.

To this day, I still can't decide if UHF is underrated, underappreciated, or both. It's probably both. This film is the parody of parodies which I seriously doubt will ever be topped. This is Weird Al at his best: complete zaniness, but still a very cohesive as a plot.

With stellar, hilarious performances by its players, UHF is probably the funniest movie I have ever seen. There's nothing wrong with being funny for the sake of being funny, and not trying to be funny and make some great comment about politics or society or whatever. Weird Al (George Newman) takes over a UHF station on the brink of bankruptcy and, because of his over-active imagination, creates an entire lineup of original and entertaining shows, thus gaining ratings and giving life to U-62. Most notoriously of which, we have "Raul's Wild Kingdom" hosted by Raul Hernandez (Trinidad Silva) where poodles are taught how to fly and we learn that the turtle is nature's suction-cup.

I can't say too much more on this film without giving away some of its funniest moments (and there are TONS of these moments). If you haven't given this film a chance and you have a sense of humor, I highly recommend UHF.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: 4/5. Amongst all the insanity and parodies, this plot - though it is admittedly simple - works pretty well if you ask me.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: 5/5. This gets a 5 because of the shot selection. Weird Al doesn't just write funny parody lyrics, people. Even though he didn't direct the film, he had the creative say on what shots he wanted to see. For example, in the beginning scens, we see a shot of a building with a Porsche driving by in front of it. When the Porsche passes, we see George's small, pitiful car behind it. Subtle and funny.

Overall Acting: 5/5. Even though the humor in this film is ultra-zany, its players carry it out wonderfully.

Score/Soundtrack: 4/5. Good stuff!

OVERALL RATING: 4.5/5

~Fentablar~