Buddy

Screened at Cinemark at The River, Rancho Mirage, California

If you ever imagined our old purple buddy Barney as something far more creepier or sinister than intended, thoughts that would be understandable for those who endured that character being forced upon all of us - not just kids - for what seemed like decades, you will likely find some satisfaction in checking this out. Essentially that is what this film is, using an absurdist style of comedy and imagery that alone can elicit both humor and horror out of you, depending on your sensibilities. The teaser alone will give you a great indication of where you're headed with Buddy, but if not, think of the Adult Swim channel, or Tim & Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job!, or even a splash of the recent Gail Daughtry & The Celebrity Sex Pass, from the creators of Wet Hot American Summer, The State, and others.

The inspiration here also comes from director Casper Kelly's earlier work, including the completely insane Christmas Yule Log films (also from Adult Swim), or even better, his brilliant 80s sitcom intro send-up Too Many Cooks, so influential here that its name-checked right on the poster, above the title. So, as a huge fan of all these, I wasn't expecting it, but really hoping that for his first feature film as a director to hit the big screen (his first feature as a writer was the surreal Nicolas Cage-starring horror dreamscape Mandy), this could be his magnum opus. While I did enjoy it, and really have nothing negative to say about it, it also didn't reach those heights I was hoping for. While I for sure laughed, and found it quite entertaining, it also felt a bit .... unfinished. Fuck, I don't even know what that means, as I likely need another viewing to grasp what it is I just watched. But at the same time, I strangely think Kelly didn't go hard enough here. For most, what's presented probably does the trick. But if you're going to go for the obvious target of the weird surrealism of children's television, my view is you really have to double down, and HARD, to really make this shine. What made Too Many Cooks work was seeing the less than obvious bizarro world of 80s sitcoms in a whole new light.

Again, it's funny, it's entertaining, it's bloody, it's surreal. But at the end of the day, when going to the silver screen I truly expect "better" - whatever that means exactly - than the genius already shown to us on the small screen. I do recommend this; I think for those who find this enticing will mostly be satisfied, but for me, there just weren't enough cooks in this kitchen to meet Buddy's true potential.