Movie 43

Film: Movie 43

Starring: Kate Winslet (Contagion), Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) and Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Directors: Multiple Credited Directors

U.S. Release: January 25th, 2013 (Rated R)

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 90 minutes


On the surface, the immensely populated star-studded cast of the quasi-intertwined collection of short stories, Movie 43, appears to be reason enough to see the film. Boasting an ensemble filled with Academy Award Winners and Nominees such as Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Terrence Howard, Greg Kinnear and Uma Thurman, what could go wrong? Well, to be perfectly honest, just about everything could go wrong.

Following 12 main short stories, Movie 43 attempts to mold them together through the recurring story of an armed gunman (played by Dennis Quaid) who tries to force a movie executive (played by Greg Kinnear) to sign a lucrative movie deal. Each short story representing an off-the-wall idea of this deranged gunman, Movie 43 hopes to shock and disgust audiences by crossing just about every line known to man.

Unfortunately, the historic belief that a lengthy cast of A-List stars usually leads to a weak final product proves true once again. Movie 43 serves as an unsatisfying mess of profane jokes and crude ideas. Having no real semblance of a plot, the feature is only sporadically funny and mildly entertaining. In fact, Movie 43's over-the-top style of potty humor and shock value turns dull rather quickly. With an outrageous red band trailer, it's also disappointing to note that Movie 43 decides to advertise its most shining moments. 

Purposefully offensive and overly forced, Movie 43 is a self admitted farce. The collection of shorts plays out like a smorgasbord of interesting ideas taken to terrible lengths. But even at their finest moments, the stories manage to self-destruct by constantly taking their jokes to exhausting extremes. It's a recurring theme that never wavers and ultimately bogs down Movie 43 to the point of no return.

Somewhat optimistic beforehand, I was letdown by the jumbled mess called Movie 43. Therefore, the trend of sub-par early-year releases continues once again in 2013. The safest bet is to simply avoid Movie 43 and take a chance on Oscar contenders like Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained and The Impossible.

Stars: 1 star out of 4

Grade: D+