Review: Freddy Got Fingered

Let’s just get this over with…

Freddy Got Fingered (2001)

Starring: Tom Green, Rip Torn, Marisa Coughlan

Directed By: Tom Green

I guess I have to start out and say I’ve never liked Tom Green. I was even was of age to watch his show. I just never found it funny. Maybe that made me square. Well, a lot of things make me square. This IS “A Nerd Goes to the Movies” afterall. Please understand that I went into watching this movie already not liking Tom Green’s “comedy” and I was expecting a bad experience. Yes, it was hard to be objective from the start. That said, there are bad movies then there are movies like Freddy Got Fingered.

Gord Brody (Green) is an aspiring animator. He lives at home with his parents (Torn and Julie Hagerty of Airplane fame) before heading off to Hollywood to chase his dream. Of course, he’s told his cartoons are stupid and that they don’t make any sense (which is the truth). So, he goes back home. There he meets the wheelchair bound Betty (Coughlan) and has a rising conflict with his father. Add random skits, which all miss mind you, there’s your movie.

Before someone gets on here and accuses me of “not getting it,” let me assure you I completely understand what Green was doing here. Yes, this movie is a spoof. It makes fun of the average movie cliches, of American life, of expectations placed on you, etc. It just isn’t funny. At all. Green’s idea of comedic delivery is to repeat what he says over and over again. Not funny. Playing around in a dead elk’s carcass isn’t funny. Caning a paralyzed woman’s legs because that’s her fetish (huh??) isn’t funny. Biting the umbilical cord on a newly delivered baby then proceeding to swing said baby around by it is not funny. I can go on, believe me, but you get the point.

Bottom Line: This might seem like a rush job for a review, but trust me it’s not. I simply can’t justify writing a full review on a movie that makes The Karate Dog look like a masterpiece. I just can’t. This is, quite frankly, one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve read where people think this is a surrealist piece of art. It’s not. It’s a comedy that misses on all levels. Maybe that’s the point. If so, kudos to you, Mr Green. You succeeded. But please stop comparing Green to Andy Kaufman. Kaufman, like Green is apparently trying to do, pushed the boundaries of humor. The biggest difference? Kaufman was funny.

0/10 (Avoid Like the Plague).

I’ll return on Friday with another Top Ten. This time I’ll be counting down the top movies by one of the best filmmakers ever.

Until then…