Tusk

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler

Coo Coo Cachoo.

Well Kevin Smith's latest is a.. Horror? Comedy? It's pretty ridiculous and also pretty funny. It's also more than a little annoying. There's so much here that actually manages to work really well, given the premise, but then there's just some really questionable decisions that let the film down for me.

Michael Parks is immensely watchable and I love everything he does here. And Justin Long was actually really great too, he was funny playing up the abrasive character but still managed to garner sympathy later. Once he's stuck in that prosthetic it's a little harder to gauge, I think we lose too much of him to makeup. But when it's just these two talking over tea, it's enthralling and I loved it.

I wish there was more of that, and more of a gradual build up between the two. But instead we are slapped with a tonally inconsistent cameo hog for the latter half of the film that really grated on me. It really felt like a lot of padding for a story that was probably funny on a podcast once but that they didn't believe could sustain a semi-serious treatment for feature length. I really think the film would have played better as a two hander but instead we are constantly cutting to the search party and breaking up the fun stuff with what is probably supposed to be comedy relief in a film that doesn't need it, because the other segments are funnier on their own. Funnier and more interesting and engaging.

The whole first half was surprisingly effective but the latter half gave way to a little too much stupidity and undid so much good will. I wish they were braver and stuck to their guns. Those two actors could have made just about anything work. As it is, it's a real mixed bag.