F.A.R.T.: The Movie

Rating:
Summary: Good storyline with some very funny scenes...
Review: A little slow in the beginning with some over-the-top acting, but gradually the story begins to come together. Some good acting by relative unknowns. Kevin Farley, like his brother Chris, makes a great "buddy" and plays the frat-boy role well. Somewhat like a Saturday Night Live skit, some scenes go farther than they should to get a laugh. Otherwise it's a film that makes you laugh and smile and feel good at the end. It reminded me of "The Sure Thing".

Rating:
Summary: This film is just plain funny!
Review: I almost pity those inner-city people who didn't have much opportunity to use and abuse their drive-in theaters years ago. Drive-in theaters are all but dead, and that is sad, but times change and communities alter and grow. But back when I was younger, our county had the Allred Drive-in and that was where the more sedate teens went to have their kicks on the weekends. We were offered up a wide variety of films to enhance our drinking and/or our sexual adventures. We had everything from major action films to gawd-awful Euro-trash horror to the occasional soft-core porn documentary. I am NOT joking. But the main diet we were served tended to be teen comedies, from the hits like Porky's and Fast Times at Ridgemont High to dozens of cheap clones whose names and plots blur together in a 3.2 beer haze. And I miss those days of settling in with a cooler full of beer and laughing at and with whatever goofy nonsense flittered across the screen.

F.A.R.T. The Movie, written and directed by Matt Berman, is like a trip back to the drive-in in the mid-eighties. It tells the story of Artie (Seth Walther), who was born with the disorder of rampant flatulence. In basic terms he farts, and the more upset or nervous he becomes, the more he farts. With such a problem, it is no wonder the guy has low self-esteem. So like every nerdy guy out there, he has a woman who becomes his dream, his fantasy, his ever-distant object of desire. In this case that would be Andre'a Parker (Christine Steel), the cold and insulting woman Artie would die for. His buddies, Bear (Kevin Farley), Scooter (John Farley), and Donnie (Chris Soldevilla), all accept his obsession and try to down play it as much as they can. We meet the characters as they return for what should be their last year of college. In the course of settling back in for the new semester, Artie meets and helps Emily (Heather McComb), a new student transferring in from an all-girl school. Instant attraction on both sides, of course. But being the simple creatures we men are, we can't just forget years of obsessing over that which we can never have, and there you have Artie's basic point of conflict throughout the film.

Let's cut straight to the core of this film. The whole fart disorder thing is mostly a gimmick. I love fart humor; a good number of guys do, and even a few women do as well. Almost everyone has fond memories of the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles. F.A.R.T. The Movie has a great scene when Artie goes with Emily to have dinner at her grandparents with a number of truly funny fart-related jokes. But the disorder tends to come and go when it should or possibly could make its presence known. So when you peel that element away, you are left with a fairly basic romantic comedy. It plays itself out fairly well, with an ending that is somewhat forced. It's too late to change things now, but if there had been just one other scene of development between the main characters, perhaps some deeper emotional connections would have been better established. When the material is middle of the road, it takes the cast to carry things across the finish line with grace, and the cast does a good job here.

Seth Walther plays Artie as the typical dorky but likeable guy who speaks for all the silent nerd types out there who ever lusted after a woman with enough conviction that it almost borders on becoming a stalker. Artie's friends are handled well and with almost manic confidence by the Farley men and Mr. Soldevilla. Christine Steel plays Andre'a with enough humanity that you can see how Artie could develop an obsession, but offers up enough coldness that you have to wonder why Artie can't see that she is out of reach. Then you have Heather McComb pumping her slightly underdeveloped character full of good-natured warmth and openness that will have guys wondering "Why didn't I meet women like this in college?" The overall look of the film is workable.

It has the whole "shot-on-location with a minimal budget" look that helps this kind of film appear more like what I remember my college days to be like. Big Hollywood films tend to want the whole Ivy League look in their films, but, face it, a big chunk of us didn't go to Harvard or Yale. The director acknowledges that the bulk of his cast don't look to be college age, and I have to admit that I was slightly thrown by that at first, but as the film progresses, you accept the characters and ignore the age thing. However, when they start referencing television programs like Cannon with William Conrad (the series ended around 1976), you can't help but wonder how old these people really are. So grab some beer, pizza, and a few friends and kick back to watch F.A.R.T. The Movie. Laugh, talk, and have fun like you would have if you were at the drive-in. And if you don't remember much about the movie after a few days, that just gives you a good excuse to do it all over again.

Rating:
Summary: IT'S A GAS!
Review: I could relate to this movie because i like to blow gas myself. Theres no real thought out 'intricate' humor in this movie so to speak,its your typical straight forward kind of humor all stimulating from flatulence,reminicant of the Porkys movies and the like. Farts are hillarious so i thought this movie was too and the storyline was also quite decent. Very intresting to see the late Chris Farleys brother in this,you can sure see the resembalence.