A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)

Directed by David Wain · Comedy

Starring Will Forte, Domhnall Gleeson, Martin Mull, Thomas Lennon, Joel McHale, John Gemberling, Matt Walsh, Rick Glassman, Jon Daly, Seth Green, Matt Lucas, Paul Scheer, Lonny Ross, Neil Casey, Armen Weitzman, Jackie Tohn, Natasha Lyonne, Emmy Rossum, Camille Guaty, Elvy Yost, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Liz Femi, Brian Huskey, Harry Groener, Annette O'Toole, Jeremey Penn, Joe Lo Truglio, Jake Jacobson, Erv Dahl, Jack Andrew Cook, Andrew Gray McDonnell, Lindsey Kraft, Martha Smith, Lauryn Morse, Ben F. Campbell, James Bearb, Vivienne Taylor, Sean Leo, Bob Stephenson, Garrett Boyd, Jon Klaft, Paige Flannery, Sandra Rosko, Tim Seitter, Gina Greschner, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Gregg Turkington, Steven Sims, Allyson Nicole Jones, Bambadjan Bamba, Beau Bassewitz, Christopher Arminio, Abigail Klein, Christina Miller, T.C. Daniels, Dallas Ryan, David Sampen, Ed Helms, Paul Rudd, Rich Sommer, David Krumholtz, Mitchell Hurwitz, David Wain, Finn Wittrock, Max Greenfield, Frank Gingerich, Morgan Gingerich, Carla Gallo, Brad Morris, Rick Overton, Mark Metcalf, Michael Sherman, Krister Johnson, Nelson Franklin

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The National Lampoon name became globally recognized after the monumental success of Animal Housebut before the glory days, it was a scrappy yet divinely subversive magazine and radio show that introduced the world to comedic geniuses like Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner. The driving force behind National Lampoon was Doug Kenney (Will Forte), and his truly wild and crazy story unfolds in A Futile and Stupid Gesture from Harvard to Hollywood to Caddyshack and beyond.

My review · Reviewed 05/21/2019

This was a docudrama (?) about the life of National Lampoon co-founderDoug Kenney. I think what might be more interesting than the film are the choices that the director chose to make with this film. I heard an interview with him on Penn Jillette's broadcast - he said that he was generally not a fan of breaking down the fourth well but that it quickly became obvious that the wall needed to come down hard and often. It's a good watch.... I don't know how else any semblance of this man's entire life could have been told any other way. If you're interested in the subject matter I highly recommend the book as it filled in a ton of details.