Gentlemen Broncos (2009)

Gentlemen Broncos (PG-13)

"Book Worms, VHS Germs"

Jared Hess, what have you wrought?  The creator of Napoleon Dynamite's unique cinema vision hasn't fared to well since his breakout.  Gentlemen Broncos looks good on paper, diving into the strange and cultish subculture of SciFi Noveldom, VHS home movie films and offbeat families.  The sum of its parts is unequal however, the movie often finds itself in unfunny situations with embarrassingly awkward slapstick for comedy.  A kid from High School writes a terrible space novel, which is stolen by a famous SciFi Author (played by Flight of the Conchords Jamie Clement) and the plagurization must be avenged.  Kooky, bizarre and dull, the best parts are the visualizations of the terrible novel itself, though the Science Fiction and its fans are so lampoonish that it bears almost no resemblance to reality.  Stapled on is another High School group that is busy making terrible little films, ala Be Kind Rewind (2008).  Neither joke gets enough screen time, its like two ideas for comedy shorts edited together sloppily.  Unsatisfying and with the laughs few and far inbetween, Gentlemen is the kind of oddity you nod your head and smile at when your close friend tells you about his next great idea.  You don't have the heart to tell him it mostly just sucks.

3 Tin Foil Bikinis out of 10 (BAD)