Everyone remembers where they were for the milestones of their life.
When they met the love of their life. When their children were born.
The same thing is true for me.
I’ll always remember where I was the first time I saw “Hot Rod,” starring and made magical by Andy Samberg.
In May of 2019, I had just finished a week of volunteer work with a ministry. I was with the other 12 guys from my team, scattered around the living room of a cabin just south of Atlanta. We were tired and riding that sense of relief you get when you finish something you’re stressed about but proud of.
I was an art prude, that type of more-enlightened-than-thou person who only watches films, never movies. I’m not like that anymore. Or at least less like that. Or at least differently like that.
“Hot Rod” turned the tide. I just enjoyed it.
For that reason, I’m not going to try and convince you of some deeper meaning in it. You will find no philosophical analysis here. Instead, I’m gonna ask you to allow yourself to experience this movie the way I did:
With the manic and uninhibited energy of a bunch of dudes unwinding from a stressful week who absolutely do not care that you think juvenile humor is funny. Because first, they think so too, and second, it is funny. At least when Andy Samberg does it.
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Before we go any further, here’s a few basic things to know:
- Our hero is the titularly named Rod (Samberg), a motorcycle stunt driver aged somewhere between 18-35 (seriously, there’s no way of knowing).
- He’s a stunt rider because he thinks his dad was one, and he wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps. He also believes his dad died in a stunt that was too dangerous for even Evel Knievel.
- Rod craves his stepdad’s respect. The only way to get it is to beat him up. We are never told why.
- And the crux of the plot: before he can beat him up, Rod’s stepdad needs a heart transplant. So beating him up “wouldn’t mean anything now” because he’s so sick. Rod resolves to do one giant jump (over 15 school buses) to raise the money needed to fund the transplant: “I’m gonna get you better, Frank. And then I’m gonna kill you.”
Over the course of 88 minutes, Rod wins the girl, does the jump, hits the magic number to pay for the surgery, beats up his step-dad and finds out the answer to who would win in a fight between a grilled cheese sandwich and a taco. (Apparently it matters whether it’s a fair fight or prison rules.)
If that sounds like it doesn’t always make a ton of sense, that’s because it doesn’t always make a ton of sense. Don’t hold that against it, though. You may have heard the old saying that “an inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” Well, “Hot Rod’s” flaws are only perfection wrongly considered.
Andy Samberg is a genius of juvenile comedy. And “Hot Rod” is his really stupid magnum opus.
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Actually, I lied earlier. I am going to try and convince you of a deeper meaning here. Come to think of it, the message is pretty obvious.
Late in the movie, Rod’s love interest Denise tells him why she admires him: “You’ve always done exactly what you wanted to do. And everybody else just grew up and got boring and sold out.”
The philosophical analysis is staring us right in the face: if there’s a path for you, just walk it. Life is probably not gonna make a whole lot of sense all the time. It’s gonna be absurd. You might crash through a trailer and Ebeneezer Scrooge might pop out of a school bus with a turkey. (Yeah, that’s in the movie.) Who are we to say that shouldn’t happen?
I don’t know about you, but I worry about what people think of me all the time. Whether I’m embarrassing, weird, cool, smart, dumb, an art prude, an art lowbrow, whatever. I tripped on my own shoes a little in Cobo the other day and thought the whole world was stifling a mocking chuckle. I considered dropping out. But do you know how many times I remember other people tripping? None, nada, zero times whatsoever. We’re all too worried about our own stuff to notice other people’s screw ups. Which makes it pretty dumb that we care so much about fitting in and not being embarrassing.
“Hot Rod” reminds me of something my mom always says: “Normal is just a setting on the dryer.” And who cares what the heck a dryer thinks?
So forget the settings. Hop on your proverbial motor bike and go beat up your proverbial step-dad. Just do it.
“Hot Rod” is available to stream on Amazon Prime.