and was "funny and inventive. The reception torpedoed Zucker's career.. Not to be confused with An American Christmas Carol, a serious adaptation of A Christmas Carol released in 1979 and starring Henry Winkler. frequency, and is received by scientific vessel Morning Rose. Use the HTML below. When obnoxious Hollywood director Michael Malone organizes a "Ban the 4th of July" campaign, his efforts are upended by a gang of spirits from America's past. Presented from a conservative-leaning perspective, the film is a parody of liberal filmmaker Michael Moore as well as his editorial documentaries that satirises Hollywood and American culture. On the evening of July 3, Malone watches a speech from President John F. Kennedy and mistakenly interprets the speech to mean avoiding war at any cost. Generally, I don’t. Instead they just feel obligatory to remind you that the movie is in fact a comedy. Meet the cast and learn more about the stars of An American Carol with exclusive news, pictures, videos and more at TVGuide.com 15 of 22 people found this review helpful. An American Carol dares to mock the Left, but it forgets to bring the funny. One thing is that it only shows how stupid democrats can be. Paris Hilton, Simon Rex, Zachary Levi, John O'Hurley and Mary Hart make cameo appearances. However, all is not well after Malone's revelation, for Aziz, a Middle Easterner he had interviewed, is actually a terrorist who will bomb a 4 July rally along with his underlings Ahmed and Fayed. Rated PG-13 for rude and irreverent content, and for language and brief drug material, 20 Essential Movie and TV Scrooges Through the Years, From Alastair Sim to Bill Murray (Photos), Acting President: Actors Who Have Portrayed More than One U.S. President On Film, Nine Actors Who Reinvented Themselves and Revitalized Their Careers, dennis hopper 24/23 25_121-2_8=23_113 {1SRN}, A Novel Idea: "D" Best Titles by These Authors, 30's Film You Are Most Embarrassed to Have Not Seen (Popular and High Grossing). His style and jokes really do not fit with the way this movie is written. The "left" in this movie is so obnoxious. With Henry Winkler, David Wayne, Chris Wiggins, R.H. Thomson. Malone is visited by the angel of death (Trace Adkins), who takes him to a future Los Angeles completely taken over by radical Islamists. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190617/ Starring Leslie Nielsen,… ", "Ghosts of America's past make their points in Carol, "Conservative 'Carol' is flat and unfunny", "Weekend Box Office Results for October 10–12, 2008", "Weekend Box Office Results for October 17–19, 2008", "Weekend Box Office Results for October 24–26, 2008", Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale, Downsize This! Meeting up with Malone, Ahmed and Fayed defuse their own bomb, thus sparing the people at the anti-Independence Day rally and resulting in the capture of the terrorist Aziz. An American Carol (released as Big Fat Important Movie in other territories) is a 2008 American satirical comedy film directed by David Zucker, written by Zucker, Myrna Sokoloff and Lewis Friedman, and starring Kevin Farley alongside an ensemble supporting cast, including Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Trace Adkins, Jillian Murray, Dennis Hopper and Leslie Nielsen. This movie completely writes off anyone against war, and acts like the war against Nazi Germany is the exact same as the wars in Middle Eastern countries. "The liberal left is filled with idiot's like Micheal Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. This does not mean that I had incredibly high hopes for this movie, but I was just hoping for a solid comedy that takes a piss on politics. Sure enough, General Patton, George Washington, and country music star Trace Adkins visit Michael show him the fruits of patriotism, just wars, and pacifism. An American Carol Top 200 of all time 150 Essential Comedies. A story that questions the shaming of the US through revisionist history, lies and omissions by educational institutions, political organizations, Alinsky, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other progressives to destroy America. 2008 Directed by David Zucker. Malone holds pronounced anti-American views and truculently argues that America's past and present are both offensive, and therefore should not be celebrated. An American Christmas Carol (1,435) IMDb 6.7 1 h 36 min 1979 X-Ray 13+ In an American town, an old bitter miser is given a ghostly chance at redemption on Christmas Eve. An American Carol (released as Big Fat Important Movie in other territories) is a 2008 American satirical comedy film directed by David Zucker, written by Zucker, Myrna Sokoloff and Lewis Friedman, and starring Kevin Farley alongside an ensemble supporting cast, including Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Trace Adkins, Jillian Murray, Dennis Hopper and Leslie Nielsen. Movie & TV guides. The script is also very confusing. The following morning, Malone is visited by General George S. Patton (Kelsey Grammer), who shows him an alternate United States where slavery still exists because Abraham Lincoln (founder of the Republican Party) chose not to fight the Civil War. [8] In July 2008, the film was picked up for distribution by Vivendi. Written by An American Carol (2008) Plot. But this movie is pretty damn ham-fisted with its messages. Ending his shift at the video rental, Stan's picked up by his BFF and 2 cute girls, all going to a Halloween party. An American Carol (339) IMDb 4.1 1 h 22 min 2008 PG-13 From David Zucker, the director of Naked Gun and Airplane!, comes a bare-knuckle comedy where no one is safe from the onslaught of lunacy! [7] The film had no advance screenings for critics. Moore said that he was vaguely familiar with the film, and then jokingly said he thought that Viggo Mortensen should be portraying him. Unfortunately, An American Carol ended up being as disconnected from reality as I'd feared beforehand and I can't help wondering what Hollywood genius figured it would be a good idea to make fun of a controversial American political icon, just as the vast majority of Americans were figuring out that his serious accusations were justified. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. I don't mind a patriotic movie, but this one is so bad at it. It includes a full length audio commentary by David Zucker and Kevin Farley along with several scenes and footage cut from the theatrical release. December 12, 2020 21 12 . The last take off on Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" that was this funny and this entertaining was Bill Murray's Scrooged. View production, box office, & company info. But don't act like it isn't at least a somewhat complicated issue. At a July 4 barbecue, gramps tells the kids the story of Michael Malone, a documentary filmmaker and Michael Moore look-alike who hates America and wants to abolish July 4th. Is the story told from a liberal or conservative viewpoint. For example, a scene mourning the victims of 9-11 is followed within seconds by the film's lead character banging his head repeatedly on some church bells. Watching this you keep asking yourself "do people really believe that leftists acts this way?" An American Carol. Will they even get there? [21], As of October 2009, An American Carol has grossed $7 million after having a production budget of $20 million. That would be totally fine with me if: Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. He refuses to celebrate with his nephew Josh, who's shipping out soon to the Middle East. This provided to be Hopper's final onscreen film appearance before his death 2010. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. I haven't read the source material so I wouldn't know to what the degree that story does the same, but in this movie I never knew what was happening. He tells Josh how very proud he is of him and promises to look in on his wife and family during his deployment. ", "Dr. Hfuhruhurr Returns With An Early Review Of AN AMERICAN CAROL! [6] It uses the framework of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, but moves the setting of the story from Christmas to Independence Day. Still, these signature jokes are the only thing that saves this movie from being the worst thing ever and they did manage to make me laugh a couple of times. Here are some great movies worth streaming that you won't see in the Best Picture category at the 2021 Oscars. It was a box office flop and received largely negative reviews from critics. The story suddenly started to move incredibly fast, which made a lot of the scenes where Moore is confronted with what would happen if America followed his ways incredibly confusing. "[17] Lou Lumenick of the New York Post wrote, "Even if it weren't three years too late to parody Moore (ineptly played by Kevin Farley), Moore's ridiculous tribute to Cuban health care in Sicko is far funnier than anything in this desperately laughless farce from David Zucker. [9], An American Carol was strongly promoted by prominent Republicans and conservative personalities such as Rush Limbaugh,[10] Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Mark Levin. An American Carol. Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 Sean Burns Philadelphia Weekly. Meanwhile, Arab terrorists want Malone to help them with a propaganda film. Synopsis Laugh like your country depends on it. American Carol is [Zucker's] first attempt to merge his newfound worldview with his work. A reformed Malone then goes to a Navy base to see his nephew Josh off to the Persian Gulf. At a July 4 barbecue, gramps tells the kids the story of Michael Malone, a documentary filmmaker and Michael Moore look-alike who hates America and wants to abolish July 4th. An American Carol Kevin P. Farley (Actor), Kelsey Grammer (Actor), David Zucker (Director) Malone is last seen working on a biographical film about President Kennedy. A clip from David Zucker's "An American Carol. He has finished another film entitled "Die, You American Pigs!" When King asked him his opinion, Moore shrugged and said, "I hope it's funny. An American Christmas Carol is a 1979 American made-for-television fantasy drama film directed by Eric Till and based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. Instead we get a pathetic "parody" (we see the same thing with leftists making fun of right-wings) that is so out of touch with reality and just frustrates you instead of making you laugh. If the movie just tried to be funny and absurd that would be perfect. "[16] Michael Brendan Doherty of The American Conservative considered the movie to be funny "in parts", but concluded that "Far from lampooning the Left, “Carol” insults conservatives by presuming that they are so simple as to be won over by fat jokes and flatulence. There is so much more to delve into with instances like these but that would make this review even longer. Again, if the movie went completely nuts like Team America that would be great and the jokes would land. Mel Brooks ' parody of the classic vampire story and its famous film adaptations. Malone later sees George Washington (Jon Voight) who gives a passionate speech about God's gift of freedom and the price many people pay for others to have it. An American Carol has also been described by newspapers such as the Dallas Morning News as being "for the right wing". Director David Zucker said the studio did not believe the film would get a fair hearing due to its conservative political viewpoint, and had been "advised that most reviewers don't agree with the politics". But the audience, imagining itself to be persecuted by Hollywood, is so grateful to be flattered by Zucker and company that they chuckle obediently at every cheap laff. An anti-American filmmaker who's out to abolish the July Fourth holiday is visited by three ghosts who try to change his perception of the country. In general, I find myself enjoying a lot of comedy movies that were critically panned (BASEketball, Freddy Got Fingered, The Greasy Strangler) and I guess you could say I'm a fan of Zucker. Was this review helpful to you? That night, Michel has a vision of his hero, JFK, who predicts that three ghosts will visit Michael. I found it to be humorous and extremely poignant. But American Carol was about conservatism and poking fun at liberal ideas, not about religion. How does Michael Moore feel about this movie? After spending 3 unforgettable hours with an outlaw, a beautiful young widow turns her story into a worldwide famous book. Title: A spoof on many horror movie series. [19], The film faded in the box office in its third weekend dropping 73.8 percent and finishing #21 at 599 theaters grossing $365,000 or $609 per screen. He has the dubious distinction of having portrayed Adolf Hitler five times: once on the TV soap Passions, David Zucker's 2008 comedy film An American Carol, the indie comedy feature Poolboy: Drowning Out The Fury with Kevin Sorbo, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Is he the next Leni Riefenstahl or will he see the light? Malone is already working on another anti-American film called "Fascist America". A cynical Anti-American Hollywood filmmaker sets out on a crusade to abolish the 4th of July holiday. The film was theatrically released on October 3, 2008, by Vivendi Entertainment, to commercial and critical failure.[7]. Trailer JustWatch. Which means you can't stop thinking about the message. [23], The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 30, 2008, by Vivendi Entertainment.[24]. Facing his death, Malone pleads for his life with the Angel, promising to change. Niteshift36 15:50, 17 July 2009 (UTC) I respectfully disagree with your opinion that "most movies convey POV". 2) If it wasn't so serious. In the final scene, Malone now decides to make films he feels people would appreciate, as well as Fayed and Ahmed as part of the crew, who have been pardoned for foiling the bombing. But there are so many obvious tries at making a point or to make you feel some kind of spark of nationalism (again, I'm not from America, but I seriously don't think that many people would feel that spark by watching this movie) that it kind of ruins a lot of the "background" jokes that Zucker is so wellknown for. He is visited by 3 ghosts who take him on a hilarious journey in an attempt to show him the true meaning of America. Among those gleefully denigrated and/or made fun of here are the sick and infirm, university professors, actors, politicians, social and political activists, Arabs, Germans and African-Americans. An American Christmas Carol Quotes. In Fenruary 2008, Kelsey Grammer was initially announced as the star playing a contemporary take on Scrooge. EJHill. An American Carol is a 2008 American comedy film directed by David Zucker and starring Kevin Farley. Then they start televising the program and give out the Award for "Best Film Director" overall. Meanwhile, Arab terrorists want Malone to help them with a propaganda film. In a mortuary, Malone learns that he will be killed in this attack, leaving nothing behind but his trademark hat and "big ass." [11] This doesn't seem like a fault of the actors but more that they didn't have anything to work with. It could have been the fact that I just lost focus because I was so bored but I got more and more bewildered throughout the movie. A documentary that examines the question, "If Barack Obama wins a second term, where will we be in 2016?". "[18], On September 5, 2008, Michael Moore was a guest on Larry King Live and was shown a clip from the film where Malone (while lying down on his bed, drinking a Big Gulp and watching archival footage of JFK's inaugural address) is startled by Kennedy, who materializes out of Malone's television screen, and confronts him on his misguided views of American history. Two former U. S. Presidents, hated rivals, join forces to expose the current, corrupt President at the risk of their lives. Comedy. In the mid-1930s, Irving Berlin envisioned an idea for a Broadway musical. This triggers an outraged mob from which he is rescued, however, by American servicemen. Left-wing activist and filmmaker Michael Malone (Kevin Farley), a parody of Michael Moore, campaigns to end the celebration of the Fourth of July holiday. In An American Carol a cynical, Anti-American “Hollywood” filmmaker sets out on a … The Leadership Institute, an activist group that maintains contact with College Republicans nationwide, urged its charges to see the movie on opening weekend, even handing out tickets to its interns. The political jokes are just plain bad.Aside from these problems the movie also suffers from bad acting, especially the lead. and just won another award for "Best Documentary Director" at the MooveAlong.org awards. Parody of The Exorcist (1973), with Linda Blair once again possessed by Satan, and Leslie Nielsen as the exorcist. AN AMERICAN CAROL is an incredibly uneasy mix of broad, slapstick comedy and ham-handed political commentary. 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