The preview really had me in stitches. I'm a big
Norm MacDonald fan, I'm also quite partial to Dave Chapelle, and
it looked like Danny DeVito had the part you always knew he could
play as a deranged mortician. I had a few real good laugh-out-louds
in Norm's first movie: "Dirty Business", so I figured
this would be a fair gamble.
Alas, it seems like a lowbrow comedy is like a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli. If you're really hungry and the occasion is just right, it's a good experience. More often, you slog through it and after it's finished, you say "Uuurgh... what the hell was I thinking?". And you reach for the Alka Seltzer.
The preview had all the good Danny DeVito scenes and most of the other good stuff, and it was really fast and clever and funny, so if you had the good fortune to see the preview, you're all set. The full movie didn't quite hold up. I was prepared for rubber characters and zany plot twists, but somewhere along the line, they got a little too carried away and squandered that tiny dash of credibility you need for maximum comic tension. "Screwed" was a decent lowbrow comedy but not a great lowbrow comedy. I'd have to say that "Ruthless People" set a much higher mark for kidnap comedies, with THE classic Danny DeVito role, a truly timeless hag (Bette Midler) and lots of wonderful gags and one-liners.
Norm MacDonald's first movie was full of his unique dry sensibility, but this flick seems to be a little weak on Norm. Like a cocktail with a little too much water and not quite enough booze.
In a genre notorious for producing the worst of turkeys, "Screwed" doesn't scrape the absolute bottom. It simply fails to distinguish itself as one of those "must see" lowbrow classics. Better luck next time, Norm! I'm still rootin' for ya.
And hey: any film that involves cruelty against little dogs can't be all bad. (Don't worry; I'm pretty sure that was just a prop and not a real pooch getting repeatedly slammed against the table edge.)