The Machine (2023)
To be a hero, it takes a lot of gut.
Keeping everyone on their toes this year, I’ve got a comedy movie for everyone tonight. In fairness, this is a request that’s been getting put off for a while as moods or majority votes go elsewhere, but tonight we finally got around to it! What happens when you take the story a comedian tells as part of his act and make a movie around it? Well, you get this movie and a very easy out for selecting the title. Tonight, we check out The Machine.
It was a viral video, the whole Machine story on stage, and plenty of folks have had a good time laughing at it. That’s pretty concrete real world stuff right there - but then we tune in to our comedian lead as he’s attempting to get his life together after his stage self seems to be overtaking his normal life self in the worst ways for his family. Turns out however, the family isn’t necessarily seeing the same gains that this big old dad seems to think he’s having. At his daughters birthday party, things get a bit hairier when his dad shows up, and as they are having a bit of a verbal match in the shed it gets even worse when a Russian lady shows up and kidnaps them under threat of his daughters life. See, years ago he stole something important to her family - because the story about his younger days is in fact true - and she wants him to get it back. Shenanigans, violence, and a bunch of drugs and booze await in the mother land, but will any of these goofs survive the day to have a happy ending?
Actors do great here. Our lead is the actual guy, so he’s hitting all his strides during the comedy moments like it’s his day job -har har. He does pretty decent in the more straight-laced parts as well, even if it might not be quite as solemn or intense as some of the fancier actors out there. That said, everyone in this movie is playing it like they know what it is - so if someone is gonna crack a Steve Urkell joke, you aren’t going to feel like it’s out of place in the slightest. It hits the interactions well, and plays things out for laughs in a good amount of times and nobody is doing a bad job here. Well, i mean, I can’t speak for some of the extras who don’t really have lines, nor can i speak for how people are doing in the Russian department since I don’t speak it at all, but it feels like the actors are nailing the desired target whatever that target may be.
Characters are all over the place - I mean, Russian mobsters and then an overweight dad-bod comedian? It sets up plenty of good moments for laughs, but it also does a good job of adding little bits for the characters that honestly aren’t necessary in a comedy movie but appreciated regardless. There’s the illusion of depth on a lot of the characters, even if it plays out as a bit shallow in the long run. The main, of course, still gets to have his arc of learning and acknowledging things to (at least theoretically) become a better person. It’s a bit more effort than expected in some spots, and perhaps exactly as much as expected in others. Character is just there for laughs? Yeah, they’ll be there for laughs. It’s a comedy though - and one that sort of came of in the pitch as one of those dumb comedy kind of flicks - so I don’t think most of us are coming in here desiring platinum-tier characters with more narrative wealth than a dictionary made of gold. No, we came for what was needed to make the story and jokes work, and we get that and some so it’s a win in my book.
Father son.
Comedy is subjective, so it’s going to largely depend on the person watching it. I say it every time i talk about humor in movies, but it never stops being true. Some lets loose a beefy fart in a movie, I’ll probably laugh myself to tears - someone else might be grossly offended at how nasty it is or whatever. For me, there was a bunch of moments in here that were pretty funny, and it’s from a bunch of different approaches. Sometimes it’s the unexpected - the classic “did that just happen?” moment where your knee-jerk reaction to is to just laugh. Sometimes it’s slapstick, to which most people will laugh and honestly the slapstick style stuff comes up a good amount - like someone getting hit in the balls. Sometimes it has a bit more thought to it, or it’s got a reference in it that makes it funnier, or occasionally it’s just so dumb it’s funny. A good deal of it, however, is certainly not kid appropriate, as if that rating didn’t already tell you it might not be the best case film to have little Timmy watching. So despite the hit-or-miss that comes with the territory, I found this one to have some good humor in it at various points regardless of the form or subject matter but fully understand that some aren’t going to be nearly as enjoying of it as me. Of course, some might find it even funnier than me.
It’s a modern time movie, so it’s costumes are suitably modern. The most outlandish thing - besides a plethora of tattoos on faces - was our lady Russian lead’s shirt reminding me of a swashbuckling pirate at one point, which might have distracted me a little from the cool action that was going on as I chuckled to myself about it. Prop has a bit more variety in their department, as we see things like guns, knives, a sweet little baton and plenty of accessory gear throw about. Even then, it’s all pretty tame and believable for the picture they are painting - like a golden handgun for mobster. Our settings are likewise varied but still believable modern - like the little run down village, or the fancy pants hotel, or a rather sad train interior. That train also has probably the most violent parts of the movie - which to no surprise are also used for humor.
The soundtrack in here is pretty good. A lot of songs I recognize, like some Rob Zombie and the likes. You might think it’s just going to be the flashback sections, but it’s the entire movie that likes to use those radio-play goodies. There’s also some accompany music in there to help with emotional moments and regular atmospheric feel scene setting, like the stereotypical Russian theme that crops up a few times. Audio balance is good, so you’ll never miss those wonderful joke deliveries or general lines and interactions. Again, I don’t speak Russian so I can’t attest to any of that side of it, but it sounds like what I’d imagine the accent sounding like from years of media consumption and never once having a direct interaction with an actual Russian human. For the thinking folks, there’s some stuff about hanging on the the past, some quick stuff about masculinity and feminism, and general father-kid bonds. Hundred percent honesty - I so did not come into a comedy movie to look for deep philosophical bits, so that’s all just surface level winging it from stuff said in the movie, you’ll totes need to find someone more attuned to commentary and the likes this time around.
Father son, escalated
It’s a fun little R rated romp with some decent jokes and a preposterous premise the craves your brain to be on enough to enjoy it and off for higher nit-picks. Go in for a fun time, and laugh at the wackiness of the crazy things that happen, maybe get yourself an “aww” or two from the more heartwarming moments. From an extremely technical standpoint, it does have some consistency issues with positions and eye-lines between shot cuts that are stitched together, but most people probably won’t care or notice if they are just there to have a good laugh (and the only reason I did is because I’ve watched so many of these darn things my eyes have started to pick them out as I go), and they don’t come close to breaking the fun of the movie anyways. It’s a good time, if the trailer makes it seem like your type of humor check it out.