July 14, 2007

Fantasia Report: Todd Eats Crow, Declares Uwe Boll's Postal A Damn Good Movie. Really.

(Posted In Action Comedy Cult Fantasia Festival 2007 Reviews USA and Canada )

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, stop the presses! This is why, as tempting as it may be, you do not give up on a film maker. Uwe Boll has made a good movie. This is not a joke. This is not a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is honest to god truth. Postal is not merely competent. It’s not just okay. It is brash, bold, smart when called for and stupid when required and - most importantly - it is frequently and intentionally laugh out loud funny.

Rather than continuing to fight his public and online image Boll has decided to embrace it, intentionally elevating the level of absurdity and shlock here to never before seen levels, all in the name of creating one of the most coarse, vulgar and offensive comedies ever put to celluloid. This is a movie that sees Boll appear on screen gleefully claiming to finance his films with Nazi gold. This is a film that features a frontal nude shot of former Kid in the Hall Dave Foley in its opening minutes. This is a film that features the World Trade Center hijackers attempting to change course because there’s a shortage of virgins in the afterlife. And while it certainly will offend it will do so, perhaps surprisingly, because beneath the madness it features some surprisingly pointed and accurate moments of social satire.

Postal is a film difficult to summarize without simply spoiling the jokes but here is a rough outline: our ‘hero’ is a twenty something trailer park dweller, laid off from a factory job and trying to find work while living off welfare with his grotesquely obese, chronically – and graphically - unfaithful wife. Just outside of town lives his uncle Dave – that’d be Dave Foley - the con man leader of a fake religious cult to whom he is known as Uncle Dave and to whom they pay out both large amounts of cash and sexual favors. Unknown to his nubile flock, however, Uncle Dave hasn’t been paying his taxes and the compound is in danger of being shut down. Following quite possibly the most demeaning job interview on the history of the planet and a trip to the welfare office gone horribly and hysterically wrong our hero agrees to help Uncle Dave on a scam to get his personal slice of heaven back in the black. More on that in a moment.

Running simultaneous to this is the second key plotline, this one revolving around Osama Bin Laden and his core al Quaeda members, living in the back room of a local variety store while they plan their next move. Though Osama is simply going through the motions of being an international terror leader to stave off boredom his key lieutenant and chief boot licker has come up with a plan even more devastating than the 9-11 attacks, the key of which is – surprise, surprise – also key to Uncle Dave’s plan.

What both sides want is a shipment of rare, coveted, Krotchy dolls, Krothy being a little penis shaped cartoon character voiced by “International Superstar” Vern Troyer. Uncle Dave wants to sell them on Ebay. Osama wants to lace them with biological agents and before doing the same thing. But before either can proceed the dolls need to be ‘liberated’ from a German themed amusement park run by Uwe Boll, playing himself. Chaos – and rampant gun play – ensues.

Playing like a demented blend of South Park, the Farrelly Brothers and Troma – though with better production values and casting than any of those can typically boast – Postal positively blazes through a first act, leaping from moment to moment and sketch to sketch, gleefully poking fun at religious extremism, political manipulation, race politics, and conspiracy theory. The pace sags some in the middle act as it makes the transition from rapid fire sketch comedy into a more coherent narrative but the third act is, once again, full force and all guns a-blazing. As is always the case with this sort of shock-comedy mileage will vary from viewer to viewer and gag to gag – some will undoubtedly find it purely offensive with no redeeming qualities – but the hit to miss ratio is surprisingly strong and the writing truly audacious in sections. The film is an equal opportunity offender, with a little something thrown in to get everybody from every segment of society.

The film is carried primarily on three fronts. First is the writing. Much like South Park, Postal is far smarter than it appears on the surface. Yes, there is a healthy portion of pure toilet humor but Boll proves surprisingly adept at taking positions held by both extreme right and left American politics, stretching them way beyond their logical conclusions and turning them back in on themselves. The opening conversation between hijackers, the welfare office shoot out, and the job interview – example all lifted just from the opening act - all carry a surprising level of subtext to them and, if nothing else, you have to admire the man for having the stones to make a film sure to infuriate Republicans and Islamic extremists alike.

The second major strength lies with the cast. Even Boll’s most vocal detractors have had to admire his ability to cast big names in his film and while Postal may not include a true a-list star it does feature a seemingly endless string of serious character actors all of whom are perfectly used and all of whom are obviously loving every minute of what they’re doing. Watch for J.K Simmons – that’d be J. Jonah Jameson to you Spider-Man fans – in a bit part as an anti-government conspiracy theorist, in particular. The first half of the film, as characters are introduced, provides a steady stream of ‘Hey, I know that guy …’ moments.

The third strength lies with Boll and his technical crew. The man has developed some decent technical chops and, having spent so much time on horror and action films, he’s able to stage scenes that other films of this type could never properly attempt. The cinematography is strong, the editing is sharp and while I think the middle act could stand with a bit of a trim there’s hardly an ounce of fat on the film otherwise.

So. There you have it. The subject matter and approach guarantees that Postal will not be for everyone. It pokes fun at some otherwise untouchable subjects and there is a large segment of the populace that simply doesn’t care for vulgar comedy. And that’s fair enough. But for a film of this type Postal is an unqualified success, a film that knows what it wants to be and hits all of its marks. A good film? Hell, I can’t remember the last film that made me laugh this hard.

** UPDATE **

A certain Mr. Ward - no idea if it's really him, honestly - has been trying to embed the opening scene of the film in the comments section, unsuccessfully because our publishing software doesn't allow it. So I'll link to it here. It's a VERY low grade cam job of the scene that looks like ass but the audio comes through loud and clear, which is what you need for this particular bit. It's spoilerific but it's literally the first scene of the film and is also the bit that let me know I was about to have to rethink everything I though I knew about Boll ...

» Posted by Todd at July 14, 2007 12:01 PM
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Reader Comments

Is there a trailer or release date for this?

» Posted by Zero at May 2, 2007 08:23 PM

I'll believe this when i see it.

» Posted by Raku at May 2, 2007 09:01 PM

April 1st? :o like raku I'll believe it when I see it, if ever. I've managed to steer clear of boll's movies so far.

» Posted by nekosaur at May 2, 2007 09:10 PM

The trailer gave the vibe that he is going balls out, no shame with this one, which is probably the proper way to go for hackmeister Boll - to have a little fun with it, I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to the low-brow insanity that the trailer promises.

» Posted by Kurt at May 2, 2007 09:24 PM

Looked great from the trailers, glad to hear it can sustain the feel for most of the running time.

» Posted by Iain Norman at May 2, 2007 10:37 PM

You're high... really high. I've seen "House of the Dead." No more comment needed.

» Posted by Drewbacca at May 3, 2007 01:11 AM

This sounds like there is a new age dawning for the Bollmeister. In the name of the King showed what he can do on a big budget. Boll said, at BIFFF, that he had trouble getting the film out stateside, hope that is out of the way soon.

» Posted by Jay-Ra at May 3, 2007 03:59 AM

Well if this is to keep up the standards of the piss funny game "Postal" that inspired it, it had better be funny as hell, and completely tasteless, I so hope so!!!

» Posted by Evilwingedmonkey at May 3, 2007 04:55 AM

Wow...I don't know what to say. I really liked the trailer and if Boll isn't holding a gun to your head while you type this I'm looking forward to this.
Hopefully this will slow down the enourmus drinking of Hatorate for Boll but I doupt that will happen, just as people hate Brett Ratner and Paul W.S. Anderson no matter what they do.

» Posted by Swarez at May 3, 2007 06:18 AM

I never thought I'd see the day when someone gave a Uwe Boll movie a good review, I cant really comment on him because i havent seen any of his movies but still, im quite shocked.

» Posted by Ramen89 at May 3, 2007 06:51 AM

Hi Todd,
Glad to hear you liked it too. I laughed so hard that I booked it immediately for DEAD CHANNELS.
We're playing it in San Francisco on August 11th, and Uwe Boll will be joining us for the presentation.
Best,
Bruce

» Posted by Bruce Fletcher at May 3, 2007 12:30 PM

film is unrealy fanny

» Posted by ALERATOR at May 3, 2007 12:33 PM

Hey Bruce ... long time ...

Yeah, can't say anything specific at this point, I don't think, but you can definitely count on seeing Postal on the fest circuit this year ...

» Posted by Todd at May 3, 2007 01:42 PM

I'm actually really happy that you guys are giving this good reviews! I was really hoping that Uwe would eventually make something good. And who knows, maybe Dungeon Siege will come out and surprise us. I certainly didn't think that the new trailer for Bloodrayne 2 looked awful.

Also, I recently met Zack Ward at a horror convention in Chicago. He mentioned Postal getting a theatrical release sometime in late Summer or Fall. Cool guy, too!

» Posted by crazybee at May 3, 2007 01:54 PM

» Posted by Zack Ward at May 3, 2007 02:10 PM

Reading comments threads on other sites linking in to this is my new favorite hobby ...

» Posted by Todd at May 3, 2007 02:36 PM

I'll belive when I'll see it.

--------
Iisuselu' Iisuselu' hai la joc
Iisuselu' Iisuselu' hai noroc!

» Posted by iisuselul voiajor at May 3, 2007 03:18 PM

Yeah, haha, I made a topic at KFCC. Gotta let the people know!

What did Zack Ward (real or fake?) post?

» Posted by crazybee at May 3, 2007 03:37 PM

Scroll up. It's the opening scene of the film - the one with the 9-11 hijackers. I added a link to the bottom of the review since MT won't allow embedded video in comments.

» Posted by Todd at May 3, 2007 03:46 PM

Yeah, it looks and sounds much better than I think anyone would expect. I can't wait to see this!

» Posted by crazybee at May 3, 2007 04:05 PM

Wow, I suspected as much from the rough-cut trailers, but it's still strange to read a more-or-less glowing review of a Boll epic.

» Posted by Rhythm-X at May 3, 2007 09:03 PM

I have seen the film, and I can honestly say that it was one of the funniest experiences of my life. It is not for everyone, but those who will get it, will REALLY get it.

Hats off to Dr Boll on this one - hope he can keep it up!

» Posted by Dude at May 3, 2007 10:15 PM

Zack Ward is my favourite actor, EVER. I'm glad he's getting some recognition.

» Posted by Mofette at May 3, 2007 11:24 PM

A positive review? You know nothing about movies. When you have a clue about what a good film is, you'll feel better about yourself. How dare you compare this garbage too South Park! Lame

» Posted by Idiot Reviewer at May 5, 2007 01:20 AM

that crap was $%#@&% up. pointless and just plane stupid.
they wasted film on this. how dare Boll make such a dumb parody off such a disaster like 9/11.

» Posted by Link48010 at May 5, 2007 01:50 AM

quit whining bitches, looking mighty funny film.
any idea of release dates in diff countries or just going straight to dvd?

» Posted by scarecrow at May 5, 2007 03:25 PM

[i]that crap was $%#@&% up. pointless and just plane stupid.
they wasted film on this. how dare Boll make such a dumb parody off such a disaster like 9/11.[/i]

I laughed because of the typo in a sentence that mentions 9/11, so I guess I'll enjoy this type of humor.

» Posted by OvA at May 6, 2007 02:13 AM

Oh Todd, oh no. I certainly hope this is actually good because now that you've declared it so, I'm curious to see it.

My mind and body are fighting each other right now. Acck!

» Posted by Danielle at May 7, 2007 02:13 AM

hey idiot reviewer (the comment) ..

HOW ABOUT TO MAKE YOUR OWN FUCKING OPINION ABOUT FILMS?
i hate you all internetbashers. nosence idiots.

uwe is the best!

» Posted by rans at May 8, 2007 10:59 AM

Give me a break, rans. Yeah, yeah, "Hatorade" isn't cool. Then I remembered that I actually watched "BloodRayne".

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. His movies suck, and he deserves the bad rap even if it's not fair.

Of course, it looks like the Postal movie works for him (and he actually worked on it), so I'm not dissing the Postal movie - just Uwe's past work.

» Posted by Scott Colosimo at May 8, 2007 10:34 PM

I know this movie is good because you have to try SUPER hard to make a bad movie about a GREAT game like Postal. Forget Boll; even God can't ruin that game!

» Posted by Alex D. at May 8, 2007 11:06 PM

fact: postal game = one of the best games ever made

conclusion: postal movie = probably really good... at the very least :-)

» Posted by AL at May 8, 2007 11:16 PM

Nobody knows exact date of an output of film?
PS it will be 2 film on which I shall go to a cinema, instead of I shall be сматреть on a piracy disk.
PSS Greetings to all from Moscow!

» Posted by Domestos at May 9, 2007 04:50 AM

Nobody knows exact date of an output of film?
PS it will be 2 film on which I shall go to a cinema, instead of I shall be сматреть on a piracy disk.
PSS Greetings to all from Moscow!

» Posted by Domestos at May 9, 2007 04:55 AM

Ha ha, you're a double poster AND you're russian! Nyah nyah.

Tucson Premiere? Anybody?

» Posted by Dan at May 10, 2007 07:34 PM

Absolute great an funny trailer!

» Posted by Peter Haidel at May 15, 2007 01:45 PM

Absolute great and funny trailer!

» Posted by Peter Haidel at May 15, 2007 01:49 PM

So, what I thought about Boll is starting to make sense.
This guy, as a director, is not half bad. However, when he employs nitwitted screenwriters with a tenuous grasp of English and dialogue pacing, his movies suddenly become ALL bad. See - Alone in the Dark. The intro and taxicab dialogue were enough to switch the channel in disgust.

» Posted by Mike at June 11, 2007 04:26 AM

Clearly Todd has been bribed by the "good" doctor.

» Posted by Fuck Me at June 11, 2007 06:15 AM

Is this clip indicative of the humour in the movie? Can't say I'm impressed. Listen, I am ALL for tasteless humour, but that just wasn't funny.

Felt like something from a bad History Bites sketch, when they do their Seinfeld parody, which is only half funny because the one guy does a pretty good George.

Actually no...this reminds me of that one opening to Family Guy that starts off with Osama flubbing his lines doing a terrorist video. Went on too long, wasn't that funny in the first place.

» Posted by Garth at July 14, 2007 01:28 PM

is he really using the usic of Predator in the movie?

» Posted by conbarba at July 14, 2007 05:08 PM

or is it temp track music?

» Posted by conbarba at July 14, 2007 05:09 PM

actually chances are this movie will be quite good since.....its a film about bad taste and uwe boll is just full of bad taste

» Posted by the observer at July 14, 2007 10:44 PM

Has anyone out there actually seen Dungeon Siege? Is it typical Boll? I had heard it could actually be good as well, but I just can't help taking all the news I hear about this guy with a huge chunk of salt.

» Posted by PhoneyB at July 15, 2007 01:03 AM

... I kind of liked "BloodRayne" - cheesy fun, indeed. And I think Zack is hot too, Mofette - ever since he did "RE" (another excellent slice of cheesy goodness) with that sexy russian accent..! ;) ...

» Posted by CynAnne at July 16, 2007 01:36 AM

it's the old standard brought to life once again:
the most dangerous man is the one who has nothing to lose.
Boll can so closely identify with the main protagonist in this film that he literally makes a movie that mirrors his own psychosis, and it works.
I hope Boll actually LEARNED from what happened to him while making this film, and can channel this to make another good film.

» Posted by sonaboy at July 16, 2007 02:25 PM

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