By Daniel R. Durrett
@FilmDitz
Seriously odd ball comedy film written and directed by Michael Kvamme and starring Simon Rex deliver what may be a future cult film. Rex’s performance ties the film together and, in the best way possible, is allowed to deliver Danny’s portrayal in all of his Rexxyness. (Trust me when I say it works if you like the Sandlerish side of foolish camp).
It is Kvamme’s feature directorial debut, a very bold one at that. But this film captures the whimsy of Kevin Reynolds ‘ directorial feature debut, Fandango. With other great but dangerously different films, is that not what true film fans want… a f%ckin’ roller-coaster ride?
Produced by Matthew Vaughn- no, not that Matthew Vaughan, this one…MV… I think he may be cooler. Much can be said for the producers who can keep their cool while overseeing any comedy production.
Rex’s performance only works alongside his dutiful straight man, Luke, portrayed by Dustin Milligan. Whom most will recognize from Schitt’s Creek or his small but memorable performance in Mike Judge’s “Extract”.
Showing the depth of her comedy chops is Brenda Song’s Allison, who rounds out these foolish men to help keep the story and trip perhaps on the road. Song’s Allison was a strong addition to ground the brothers within the task toward the insanity of this conspiracy theory that Danny brings to Luke’s transitional life. Which I believe is the moral of this story. You can never plan for anything best to take life as it comes, cause the moment you make plans, that truly is the moment God laughs.
There are moments this film is “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, mixed with the “Cannonball Run”. If Mel Gibson’s character Jerry from “Conspiracy Theory”was driving, the car would drive directly into the path of his own conspiracy theory.~~~ And if you’ve never seen “Conspiracy Theory”, what the hell’s wrong with you? It has a totally evil Captain Picard. And Julia Roberts in her prime, red hair everywhere!
There’s a /CUT/ that runs three films deep. If you get that, then you’re really going to enjoy “Operation Taco Gary’s”. It is a veritable Who’s Who of cameos, and is almost a signature step toward taking REX back to the crazy zany characters which were the majority of his career. Designing the bizarre world that this film lives in is the fun of taking the trip, as most of the cast probably saw this as a respite from their traditional acting fare.
Kvamme swings for the fences in a fun and unique way. The campy nature to the story runs close to a film like “Dude, Where’s My Car?” and provides nearly that same amount of namesake actors, proving this industry has got to lighten up about the need for more comedies.
Tony Cavalero’s character, Klyle, helps but possibly does more to hurt the process of validating Danny’s conspiracy theory. Most will know Cavalero as Keefe from “The Righteous Gemstones”.
Casting cameos continue with Arturo Castro, who has been in everything lately from AT&T commercials, but most will know him from “Broad City” and enjoyed him immensely in “Road House” all the way to “Tron: Ares”.
Taking his turn at the universe of ‘Entouraging’ yourself, Jason Biggs portrays an altered Jason Biggs, adding depth to this film’s lunacy.
