Hot Rod should come with a warning, said Susan Carpenter in the Los Angeles Times. 'œAnyone over the age of 42 is not going to get it.' Full of '80s references, Gen-X iconography, and Jackass-style gags, this sarcastic comedy features Saturday Night Live regular Andy Samberg as Rod Kimble, an aspiring Evel Knievel. Desperate for his ailing stepfather's respect'”not to mention the chance to beat him up in a fair fight'”Kimble decides to jump over 15 buses on a motorcycle to raise money for his stepfather's heart transplant. Samberg is as much a movie star as Kimble is a stuntman, said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. He 'œlabors under the misapprehension that he is automatically, innately funny.' The talented Isla Fisher is wasted as Kimble's love interest, and Sissy Spacek is miscast as Kimble's mother. It's the Saturday Night Live curse, said Scott Foundas in the LA Weekly. When SNL performers try to stretch out their television sketches on the big screen, it rarely works. There are moments in Hot Rod that are genuinely funny, like the 'œFlashdance-style' training montages, but it's not enough to sustain an 88-minute movie. 'œThere are perhaps 10 or 15 minutes of good, gag-worthy material here stretched out to interminable lengths.'
Rating: PG-13
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