Without A Paddle
Yeah, what to say about male-slacker-comedy films like Without a Paddle? Anyone going into it surely knows what they are going to get out of it. A few chuckles, some excruciatingly flat jokes, and a shitload of dodgy and laboured set-ups. I can guarantee you it was pitched as "Road Trip on a river". The only thing this film really has going for it is the affection the filmmakers obviously have for the 80s nostalgia that binds the three characters together from childhood. The film starts with Wonder Years style home movie footage that shows a group of kids re-enacting scenes from all their favourite movies, including Indiana Jones (which reminds me of those inspiring real-life kids that spent their entire childhood shooting a shot-for-shot re-enactment of Raiders Of The Lost Ark ), among other childhood pursuits. Of course the kids grow up and go their different ways only to have to reunite for one last adventure. Here the cute 80s references continue, in their Stand By Me tree house, to a very Goonies- style treasure map and plot. Of course there is also the obligatory 75 references to Deliverance you are required by law to drop when making a film set on a river, but this ups the ante by also including an appearance by The Burt himself.
There is a nice undercurrent through the start of Without A Paddle that faintly touches on drifting apart from the connections to your past, and the seemingly limitless sheer adventure of youth that forges young friendships (as a kid you really can be friends with anyone, as long as they had a bike). Sure, this sentiment is chucked away very quickly to make way for some lame jokes involving hillbilly dope growers, hairy hot hippy chicks and maternal grizzly bears, but the fact that it is there at all makes me not hate this film. Also Dax Shepard. As much as I love Matthew Lillard (okay, that was meant to be sarcastic, but the truth is I very much enjoy his work in Scream and She's All That and his Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo movies is undeniably brilliant) and Seth Green sometimes (great in Buffy but tarnishes his name by having anything to do with the sucky The Family Guy) it is Dax who gets all the best lines and moments here. Not surprising since he was the only thing worth watching on Punk'd't' (however you spell it). Considering his only pre-Punkdtd't role was as ‘Vomiter at Party' in some flick called Hairshirt (and there's a great pick-up line I'm sure he dined out on for a while) he has certainly done all right for himself since. With 5 or 6 more movies slated over the next twelve months, if you don't know who he is now, you will very soon.