Hot Rod promises big laughs

SNL stars make first feature film

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Have you ever dreamed of being invincible? Have you ever wanted to fly through the air like a kite and end up on the other end without a scratch on you? So did Rod Kimble, a self-proclaimed stunt man trying to live up to what he thought was his dad’s reputation as Evel Knievel’s test-rider.

The only problem with Kimble was that he had a homemade moped that could barely move and he just plain sucked.

HOT ROD

Starring:

 Andy Samberg – Rod Kimble

 Jorma Taccone – Kevin Powell

 Bill Hader – Dave, the mechanic

 Danny McBride – Rico, the ramp builder

 Isla Fisher – Denise

 Sissy Spacek – Marie Powell

 Ian McShane – Frank Powell

Producers: Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn

Executive producers: Will Ferrell, Jimmy Miller and Jill Messick

Co-producer: Louise Rosner

Original Screenplay written by Pam Brady

Director of Photography – Andrew Dunn, BSC.

Production designer – Stephen Altman

Film Editor – Malcolm Campbell

Costume Designer – Patricia Monaghan

Music Supervisor is Steven Baker

Music by Trevor Rabin

Paramount Pictures and Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels (producer), along with SNL writer Akiva Schaffer (director), set out to release what they say will be the comedy of the summer: “Hot Rod,” scheduled to premier in theatres Aug. 3.

SNL star Andy Samberg plays Kimble, who is unemployed and living with his mom (played by Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek), his extremely abusive stepfather (played by Ian McShane of We Are Marshall) and his awkward stepbrother, Kevin (played by SNL writer Jorma Taccone).

Trying to achieve his ultimate goal of jumping 15 school buses with his moped to raise $50,000 for his stepfather’s new heart, Kimble sets up his ultimate “crew” made up of Kevin; the team manager/videographer, Dave; the mechanic (played by SNL star Bill Hader); Rico, the ramp builder (played by Danny McBride of All the Real Girls); and Denise, Kimble’s love interest and neighbor (played by Isla Fisher of Wedding Crashers).

So why would Kimble decide to raise that much money for someone who beats him up? Because Kimble has dreamed of one day winning a fight against his stepfather, and the only way that can happen is if everyone is in tip-top shape.

A slapstick comedy with 20-plus stunts and other “dancing” ensembles, “Hot Rod” embodies what most of us aspire to: the ability to succeed in doing something we love.

“The whole reason for making this kind of movie is to have some fun,” Michaels said. “It’s a sort of uniquely American kind of comedy because most other cultures would try to sneak something worthwhile into the mix. I’m a big fan of physical comedy. As a writer, you spend forever getting the exact work, the perfect humorous dialogue, and then somebody runs into a wall, and you’re laughing twice as hard.”

With all the classic comedy elements, “Hot Rod” also included moments of improvisation, which were Schaffer’s favorite scenes to shoot.

“That was the closest we came to shooting in our living room with our video cameras because there were no stakes,” he said.

With most of the cast and crew part of SNL, trying to balance the movie and the weekly show proved to be difficult but well worth it.

“Since we (Schaffer, Taccone and Samberg) first read the script in 2005 is when we got jobs with SNL, so we’ve been doing both,” Schaffer said. “The hard part is every week you don’t get any down time. Every hole is filled with some sort of writing or working.”

Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone are most famously known for their personally made digital shorts for their self-titled group, The Lonely Island. All three members grew up in Berkley, Calif., and went to film school. They decided their best move was to go to Los Angeles, film as much comedy as they could and post it on the Internet. Seven years later, they are all working on SNL and are months away from releasing their first feature film.

“It’s a dream come true (to work with Schaffer and Taccone) without being too cheesy,” Samberg said. “It could’ve been more perfect with all of us doing a movie together.”