****UPDATE from Adam McKay: “The Cheney joke is gone cause it didn’t work. But the villain is a Maydoff character. How is that partisan?”
The co-writer/director of “The Other Guys,” Adam McKay, Tweeted Big Hollywood yesterday after Pam Meister’s Sucker Punch review ran. He and I went back and forth a bit (if you’re interested, I’m @jjmnolte, he’s @ghostpanther). Long story short, he’s pretty sure Cheney’s a criminal…or something.
After the below reader-comment popped up I asked McKay directly if there was indeed a Thousands Oaks test screening for “The Other Guys” Tuesday night, and he confirmed that there was. So with that confirmation, I’m comfortable highlighting the following from reader lars bentley: [emphasis mine]
Just saw a test screening of this movie on Tuesday in Thousand Oaks, CA and one scene featured a bio of the “bad guy” that had photos of him hanging out with George W. Bush and referred to him as a Best Friend of Antonin Scalia. Rush Limbaugh was also featured in a scene where the main characters are changing channels on the car radio and an out of context clip of Rush talking about how he wants Obama to fail.
Methinks bentley’s closing sentence speaks for us all:
The movie had some pretty funny scenes, but they kept throwing in these political references for no apparent reason other than to express the filmmakers personal opinions, and it detracted from the movie.
Please keep in mind that lars is a commenter and that there’s no way to confirm anything other than the fact that the test screening he says took place did.
Adam McKay is obviously a smart, talented and successful guy in an industry where getting your name on anything requires a helluva struggle. The shame of it all is that he can’t control himself and allow those of us who don’t think Dick Cheney’s a criminal the opportunity to just sit back and enjoy his work.
Could it be that McKay’s goal is to offend us; that his partisan rage is such that the very idea of luring unsuspecting non-lefties into the air-conditioned dark of a summer movie promise laced with out-of-nowhere cheap shots gives him some sort of childish pleasure?
Does he understand (or not care) that this kind of gratuitous partisanship sucks the enjoyment right out of his work for those of us who might disagree with this worldview? After all, we’ve already parted with the price of admission, right? After all, he’s already a multi-millionaire, right?
Has he figured out that this kind of stuff breaks the storytelling spell for everyone, even those who do think Dick Cheney’s a criminal?
Maybe the problem is that he sees all of us as Dick Cheney and believes we deserve to have our good time ruined.
Maybe he knows that the film’s core audience represents young minds he might be able to influence… As we all know, there is no happier leftist than one who has found a place between parent and child.
I don’t really care what the answer is. What I believe is that they’re at war with us on every conceivable front — including the big, dumb summer tentpole comedy front.
Those of you ready to argue Hollywood’s purely profit and not politically-driven may comment below.
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