Gatan Matazarro became famous for his role as Dustin Henderson on “Stranger Things.” The character was a loveable geek who was very book smart but not always with when it came to common sense and he wasn’t too popular. Even school outcast Eddie Munson was cautious of him before the two learned more about each other and by the end of the fourth season they were best buddies.
This made his change during the fifth and final season harder to for people to understand. He had changed as he was grieving the death of Eddie and even felt on the fringe of his own circle of friends.
It was a nice change as Matazarro was able to branch out a little as other productions seemed to have him as the same bumbling, sneaky geek.
At 23, he’s made his first movie lead in “Pizza Movie.” Unfortunately, I hope he tells his agent to find better roles. There’s only so many times you can play this type of character until you become another Jack Black/Will Ferrell type. As 4-20 is tomorrow, this is the type of absurdist stoner comedy in the vein of Cheech & Chong and Harold & Kumar movies. Yet it feels more like the weaker “Things Are Tough All Over” and the mediocre “Escape from Guantanomo Bay. “
Stoner comedies don’t really have much of a plot and the ones that do aren’t as good.
Matazarro plays Jack and he is ostracized at an unnamed college along with his roommate, Montgomery (Sean Giambrone), for being too nerdy and an incident that resulted in the entire football team being classified as sex offenders. Written and directed by Brian McElhaney and Nick Kohler, it feels too juvenile for a college stoner comedy when it should be more sophomoric. I doubt the entire college student body or the big majority would be so loyal and loving to a football team. Also the bullies seem like the type who peak in high school and skip college altogether. Maybe it was intended as a high school comedy before the idea of high-schoolers taking psychedelic hallucinatory drugs was too much for the financiers.
Jack and Montgomery accidentally find a mint can up in the ceiling tile of their dorm room. It was left there a decade earlier by a former student, Frankie (Sarah Sherman), to avoid it being found during a room search. Calling them M.I.N.T.S, they’re hallucinatory drugs she invented that cause severe symptoms if taken on an empty stomach. The two roommates have ordered a pizza but took a pill each and have to go down two flights of stairs.
The pizza is delivery by a robot that can’t go up the stairs. So the whole movie is about them trying to make it down to the lobby while experiencing all symptoms and running into other obstacles such as the bullies and a psychotic residential advisor, Blake (Jake Martin), who enjoys busting anyone for the slightest violations. Unfortunately Blake takes up too much time that he ruins a lot of the movie because Martin overacts.
While most of stoner comedies have heavies and antagonists, they are mostly reduced in size. Stacey Keach’s Sgt. Stedanko is a good one because he only appeared when need be. And Keach knew how to play the role with the mixture of seriousness and silliness.
At 97 minutes with credits, this is a good 15 minutes longer than it should be especially as the plot lags in the third act.
And that means it loses its buzz. Just like Aaron Seltzer & Jason Freidberg, some jokes repeat themselves to the point they’re not funny even if they were ok the first time.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 