Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2005)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I like Martin Short. I like everything about him. I think he's a great singer and entertainer, he's smart, he's lovable, and he's apparently very funny because he's always cracking up the cast and behind camera crew. He and his style appeal to me, and I just like him.But this movie just isn't funny. And Glick isn't funny. Short tries to carry Glick with the same funny speech patterns that carried Ed Grimley...(in low voice) "I'm as doomed as doomed could be, ya' know." Grimley and Glick use similar speech patterns. But that's not enough to carry this character or this movie.Short says in the DVD commentary that they improvised most scenes with no or very little script, though his commentary partner calls him on that and disagrees with him and insists there was a script. Now that's funny. But anyway, as the Beatles learned when filming "Magical Mystery Tour," hoping that people will be naturally funny and interesting doesn't work. You have to put some hard work and long hours into a polished script to get anything worth shooting. This movie (if there really was no script) again affirms that truth.This movie features a lot of vulgar material and I think that was a big mistake. The larger plot and story and comedy style would have appealed to young people and families and Short sacrificed that entire viewing audience for the coarse material and it really doesn't add anything. I guess Short felt an R rating was what was needed at this point in his career.Very little in this movie works. The boyfriend/manager character was the only one that was funny, yes he was over the top but at least he was actually somewhat funny. Glick is best when Hollywood celebrity Short shows through the character while giving a good natured ribbing to Hollywood giants like Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, and Kurt Russel (Hanks does not appear in this movie but Glick has interviewed him elsewhere to great results). The interviews that Glick does with Martin and Russel, and especially the deleted outtake footage of those interviews are the only thing that works in this movie.The production and story were much bigger than what I expected. The plot explanation at the end is pretty good, creative, outlandish, unexpected, and funny. There's a part that was scripted. The movie has good production values, but what it needed was a script that actually contained some jokes.

Before I get into my opinion of "Jiminy Glick In Lalawood", I feel I should mention that before watching the movie I had never seen the Martin Short "Primetime Glick" TV show with this character. And after suffering through the 90 minute running time of this movie, I have no desire to do so. I simply could not stand this character. He acts hyper all the time (which is exhausting), and he is pretty feeble-minded (and not in an amusing way). And this character is in the movie in almost every scene! Is there anything worthwhile in the movie? Well, I did find Short's imitation of David Lynch somewhat amusing (and a good makeup job). But that's about all. The movie parodies are not funny, the celebrity interviews are not funny. Even the outtakes at the end of the movie are not funny! It's no wonder Short has remained pretty obscure since the end of SCTV.

Thought I love Jiminy on TV I thought that a full movie of him might turn out like some of the SNL sketches that went on too long in a movie,but happily I was mistaken! This is funny. One must watch it more than once to catch all the lines! Jiminy shines when interviewing people, but the one liners that fly back and forth between him and his wife Dixie are also priceless. The two actors play well off each other.This may not be for everyone's taste,but I dare anyone to watch this and not chuckle or even smile. John Michael Higgins makes another great comedic part all his own and Elizabeth Perkins has some great moments of comedy, so rarely scene.

I was just browsing through IMDb.com one day and I noticed that Martin Short had a new movie coming out called "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood." When I first looked at the title, I was like it can't be but it was true, a movie based on the hilarious show called "Primetime Glick" on Comedy Central. I looked at the release date and it said a few weeks a way. I was waiting to see the trailer or the poster but guess what neither happened until the beginning of this week when both the trailer and the poster hit the web. Sadly, the marketing on this movie is so poor that I doubt more than 20 people heard about it. But since I was a fan of the show, I drove up to Los Angeles tonight so I could see "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood" The fat film critic is back in his first(and probably his last) feature film. In the film, Jiminy Glick (Martin Short) gets invited to go to the Toronto Film Festival. Jiminy starts off at the festival as the interviewer no one wants to talk to but when he gets an exclusive with Ben DiCarlo (Corey Pearson), Glick becomes the biggest star at the festival. But between his 15 minutes of fame,Jiminy gets wrapped up in a murder case at the festival. Lots of laughs and homages to old movies ensue… I really loved this film! When it first started off I laughed and then about 5 minutes later I wasn't laughing anymore but then about 5 minutes later I was laughing throughout the rest of the film. Martin Short is a comedic genius. His roles are so unique and bizarre that I don't think many can begin to understand Short's humor. I get his humor and love it. The movie is everything "Primetime Glick" was and more. The whole Martin Short making fun of David Lynch was an instant classic for me. "I'm David Lynch and I like dark roads that lead to nothing." Funny stuff! And the great thing about this film vs. the last comedy central film I saw "Strangers with Candy" this film dared to make itself more extreme. There was a lot of adult humor and cursing. Something I felt "Strangers with Candy" needed more of. They really expanded the character in this movie and the cameo interviews by Kevin Kline, Steve Martin, Rob Lowe and Kurt Russell are worth the price of admission alone. Not to mention seeing the other cameos but I won't ruin them all for you. I will let you see for yourself.Martin Short did so much work on this film, he wrote it, produced it, and starred in it as two characters. It was such fun to see this character alive on the big screen, I just wish that more people knew about the movie or the show for that matter because I would like to see it make some decent money but from the looks of it, it will have an extremely limited theater run and then become one of those 1-2 copiers at the video store which you see one day and pick up and rent. Not for me, I will be buying this thing when it comes up. I actually wish I had money otherwise I would see it again when I got a chance, it was that funny and I really think its one of those films that when you watch it again you can pick up on new jokes you may have missed the first time around.The film was obviously low budget and shot pretty much in Canada to keep the costs down. The film did a great job for what it was suppose to do. I have never heard of director Vadim Jean before but he has done a few other low budget films. I don't know if this is an up and coming director but his resume is online and he has another project filming so maybe will see more of Vadim soon.In conclusion, "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood" is a great unique comedy. Martin Short's character Jiminy Glick is a laugh riot. You either like the character or hate him they are no in-between with this one. If you liked the series "Primetime Glick" like I did then see this movie because you will really enjoy it. If you haven't seen the show I think you should give it a try at the theater at a matinée just to see if you like it. And finally if you're a fan of Martin Short then definitely go see the film! If I get a chance to catch this one again while it's in its short run in the theaters I will definitely try to catch it again.MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Jiminy Glick in La La Wood" is a 8 out of 10. Go to the theater and enjoy yourself!