FREDDY GOT FINGERED
Reviewed November 15th, 2001 by David Nusair
Less a movie and more a series of completely unrelated “funny” vignettes, Freddy Got Fingered marks the directorial debut of shock comic Tom Green.
Green co-wrote the film with his longtime buddy Derek Harvie, but perhaps bringing in a legitimate screenwriter would have brought some coherency to this mess. The movie casts him as Gord, an aspiring cartoonist who, after failing to achieve his dream, moves back home with his parents. This angers his father, played by Rip Torn, to no end, and an all-out war ensues. Along the way, Gord manages to find time to deliver a baby himself (while cutting the umbilical cord with his teeth), manually arouse both a horse and elephant, and stumble about a highway covered with a deer carcass (he was told to “get inside the animals” if he wanted his cartoon to be a success, you see).
While not a terrible movie per se, Freddy Got Fingered is certainly on the downslope of mediocrity. There are a few chuckles spread out very sparsely (a subplot involving a consistently injured kid stands out), but most intended-to-be-funny moments just come off as pathetic attempts by Green to shock the crowd. Several scenes in the film (particularly the biting-the-umbilical-cord sequence) seem like they would be more at home in a Troma schlock-fest, rather than in a so-called comedy.
Green has surrounded himself with talented co-stars, which only makes him look worse in comparison. Torn, for example, tries his hardest with the material he's got, but really, even an Oscar-winning actor (which Torn is) cannot rise above a script that asks him to deliver a tearful speech about father/son relations while covered in the discharge of an excited elephant.
Freddy Got Fingered likely marks the end of Green's directorial career and for good reason (though it's doubtful that even the most experienced director would have been able to find coherency in the lackluster script). Watch this only if you'd like to see Green lick the exposed bone of his best friend.
Audio: Freddy Got Fingered is presented with a 5.1 DD surround audio track and it’s a good one. While ambient sounds are kept to a minimum, the front speakers are quite active and clear.
Video: This 1.85:1 anamorphically enhanced transfer is also good (but it is Fox, so what else would we expect?). The film has the look of a television show, so capturing that on DVD must not have presented the biggest challenge to the folks that worked on the disc. Nevertheless, this is an appropriately top-notch transfer from Fox, so it’s hard to complain.
Extras: Say what you will about the movie, but this disc has a fair amount of extras. First up is a commentary by director/star Tom Green. This is exactly what you’d expect out of a commentary with Green, featuring non-sequitors and profane remarks galore. Surprisingly enough, though, this is also a pretty informative track, with Green explaining everything from the origins of the script to the various pop-culture references and in-jokes found within (the opening skateboard scene was actually inspired by Back to the Future!). Green also, on several occasions, expresses his complete disbelief that he was actually allowed to film a major motion picture and admits that most of the jokes were intended solely for his friends’ enjoyment. He even goes so far as to admit that perhaps he went too far in certain sequences (the whole baby swinging scene, for example). Anyone expecting serious comments from Green on this track would be seriously advised to look elsewhere.
Up next are three more commentaries from Marisa Coughlan, Rip Torn, and Harland Williams – but (and this is something I’ve never seen on a DVD), their comments are limited to a select few scenes. After you select one of the three, you’re taken to a menu offering you the choice of 4-6 sequences for which they’ll make comments. Coughlan and Torn offer interesting tidbits on the production of the movie and working with Green in general (Torn calls Green a “genius” on more than one occasion), but Williams – ordinarily a funny guy – is completely dull. He seems really uncomfortable and doesn’t offer any insights into the production. His comments are generally limited to “yeah, that was a long night” and other equally useless observations.
Next up is a unique feature that actually works quite well. The “audience participation track” contains the reaction of an opening night audience as they watch the film. As expected, the crowd’s reaction during certain scenes is quite animated (particularly the “horse penis” sequence – the first gross-out scene of the movie). While I doubt this is a feature you’ll check out more than once or twice, it is pretty neat and is a pretty cool extra to show your friends. The next section features five deleted scenes. A lot of these scenes can be seen in the trailer, including a whole subplot with a pretty decent character actor named Steven Tobolowsky (he was Stanley Jankis in Memento). Given that this is Freddy Got Fingered, don’t be expecting anything more than what the rest of the movie had to offer in these deleted scenes. All are accompanied by Green commentary, and here he is particularly obnoxious. During every scene, when he invariably runs out of things to do, he “makes nonsensical noises” for the duration of the sequence. Irritating. But there is a hidden feature here. The last deleted sequence features Canadian talk show host Mike Bullard in a small part, and immediately following that scene, there is a short clip of Green bringing a dead raccoon to Bullard’s show.
Next is a 20-minute MTV produced making of special. This is pretty much what you’d expect, with a lot of horsing around by Green and the cast – though it is pretty interesting and easy to watch. Rounding out the disc are a trailer, a few TV spots, a short 4-minute promotional piece which isn’t informative at all, a soundtrack promotional spot, and some cast/crew filmographies.
Conclusion: Obviously, Freddy Got Fingered isn’t for everyone, but this is certainly a great package for its fans.
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