The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies
WFNX_1000x50g

An American Carol

A dissent-bashing tale
By BETSY SHERMAN  |  October 9, 2008
1.0 1.0 Stars

AnAmericanCarol_inside.jpg

A Michael Moore–esque documentarian changes his stars and stripes after trying to abolish the Fourth of July in David (Airplane!) Zucker’s indictment of a “September 10” world view among lefties. When Cannes darling Michael Malone (Kevin Farley) is hired to make a feature by Islamic terrorists posing as producers, Malone’s hero, JFK (stepping out from the TV), castigates him and calls on three spirits to set him Right: Kelsey Grammer as a smug General Patton, Jon Voight as an animatronic George Washington, and singer Trace Adkins as a cowboy Angel of Death. As ex-liberal Zucker throws anti-war protesters (sheep!), ACLU lawyers (zombies!), and professors (hippies!) into the deep-frier, I wanted to cut-and-run to the comfort of www.sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.com. (O’Reilly has a cameo.) Using sledgehammer gags in the service of a dissent-bashing tale, Zucker aims for the flag-waving brio of Warner Bros. cartoons during World War II, but he succeeds only in ruining Farley’s big break. 83 minutes | Boston Common + Fresh Pond + Suburbs

Related: Evil genius, Nobelity, You don’t know Dick, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Holidays, David Zucker, American Civil Liberties Union,  More more >
| More

ARTICLES BY BETSY SHERMAN
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: THE THREE STOOGES  |  April 23, 2012
    The Farrelly Brothers' Three Stooges pastiche, while not poifect, is funny and faithful, recreating slap-shtick (and sound effects!) and adding sharp one-liners.
  •   REVIEW: GOON  |  April 12, 2012
    A Slapshot-worshipping, proudly raunchy ode to hockey's enforcers, Goon repeats a mock-poetic motif of blood and teeth wafting slo-mo towards the ice.
  •   REVIEW: THE WRATH OF THE TITANS  |  April 10, 2012
    The folks who gave us the bombastic 3D remake of Clash of the Titans unleash Jonathan Liebesman's Wrath , and it's sensational — if you like being stuffed into a trash can and rolled down a hill.
  •   A MOMENT OF ILLUMINATION  |  March 29, 2012
    Last Friday, Brandeis University brought together two legends of nonfiction filmmaking: Errol Morris and Claude Lanzmann.
  •   SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN  |  March 08, 2012
    This winning British movie, in which rumpled fisheries expert Fred (McGregor) and sleek exec Harriet (Emily Blunt) help realize the dream project of a sheik, brings to mind the classic Ealing comedies that starred Guinness.

 See all articles by: BETSY SHERMAN



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2012 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group