The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2003)

Really Surprised!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Fallon's character is only known as "The Occasionally Interrupting Younger Reporter".He is NOT discovered as The Reporter's son until the VERY END OF THE MOCUMENTARY! Also, the correct credit for Eric Idle's portrayal of the reporter is in fact The Reporter, NOT the Narrator.Even though he narrates.However, his character is ALSO the "Documentarist" and therefore should also be listed as the Interviewer.I think.

Very disappointing. My time would've been better spent watching the first movie and some clips of Rutles cover bands on the Internet.I'm a big Rutles fan. The original movie was great. If you didn't see it, a lot of it is in this pathetic excuse of a movie.It starts out alright but the viewer quickly realizes there's little new here. The SNL influence is felt when you hear the Nth joke about their trousers; repetition does *not* equal funny, gang. At the end of the film, they show some outtakes of actors laughing. One of my boys wondered what movie they were watching.Some of the interviews were slightly funny, but wouldn't be again if someone held a gun to my head and made me watch this a second time. At least it's short.

Most outings from Python alumni are good for at least one good, hard belly laugh. Unfortunately, that is most definitely NOT the case with "Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch". I'm not kidding. Not ONCE did I laugh. If I'd actually been able to find & purchase this sold-out-at-all-stores-I-went-to travesty instead of borrowing it from a friend, I honestly would've taken it back for a refund or an exchange for something good.Creator Eric Idle had carped about WB leaving this sequel to languish in the vaults "until I should pass away". Trust me, they should have. It's the one time I think "studio wisdom" actually should've been applied. And what REALLY steams me is that I was one of the most vocal lobbyists to get WB to finally release it on DVD. I was mildly worried when one of the two previews on the DVD's official website featured former SNLer Jimmy Fallon.It was nothing compared to the disappointment that was to follow.Instead of treating rabid fans of "The Prefab Four" to new footage of those wacky Liverpudlians & what anarchic mischief they've been up to since The Rutles' demise in 1970, we are fed unused footage from the 1978 -- & highly superior -- "The Rutles: All You Need is Cash", & even most of that was seen in the special features of that DVD. NO new appearances from Neil Innes (Ron Nasty), John Halsey (Barry Wom), or Rikki Fataar (Stig O'Hara) were presented to go along with this inferior rehash of a brilliant mockumentary, which obviously inspired the likes of "This Is Spinal Tap", "Bad News", & "Dill Scallion", all funny & all definitely owing a debt of gratitude to Idle's vision.Shortly after "The Beatles Anthology" was released, Neil Innes & Co. returned to the studio to record "The Rutles Archaeology". Innes contacted Idle to invite him to reprise his role as Dirk McQuickly for the video of "Shangri-La", but Idle turned him down, saying that it'd been done before & he had no time to retread old ground. He should either have stuck to that statement or taken Innes up on the offer. The second Rutles' album was MUCH truer to the original (in some instances, even funnier!) than Idle's movie. Had Idle reprised his role, maybe he would've remembered what made it so funny to begin with.The new interviews (featuring the likes of Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Salman Rushdie[?!]) again feature nothing new or humorous. And the whole "trousers" thing? It was (is) funny for the brief mentions in the original, but it feels like it's being beaten to death in the sequel.I wish I'd been that fortunate, either before or after sitting through this. Having survived "Rutles 2", I'll never complain about having to go to the dentist's office again.

Based on one horrible fan review I'd read before renting this "follow-up" to the first RUTLES film, I was prepared for the very worst. So it turned out that I was relieved to discover that, while RUTLES 2 is surely not in the same class as the original, it does have its funny moments despite some of the gags becoming repetitious (like Eric Idle's reporter constantly winding up in the wrong country for his interviews again and again and again). And while it's also not as polished as the original, I wouldn't consider this a total washout.The biggest disappointment came when I quickly realized that this was NOT in any way, shape or form an actual "sequel" to the first movie. I had expected that the original cast had been reunited to make a new story of the further adventures of the Pre-Fab Four in their later years. But what CAN'T BUY ME LUNCH really is, is an "alternate" version of 1977's THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH. Meaning that it's the same basic story of the origin and successes of Dirk, Nasty, Stig and Barry all over again, but this time substituting a lot of previously unseen/unused footage from '77 along with some new songs that were never included the first time around, even though they're featured on our Rutles CD's. Some of the footage is actually pretty decent, and I'm surprised it didn't make the original cut.To compliment the footage, there are new humorous interviews and muddled Rutles memories with more up-to-date celebrities: Steve Martin, Bonnie Raitt, Jewel, Gary Shandling, Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, David Bowie and Carrie Fisher. Also on hand is Tom Hanks, who seems to go out of his way trying to be a part of Beatles-related topics (he also participated in a Monty Python skit in the CONCERT FOR GEORGE, in 2002). Hanks is quite funny, as are Steve Martin and Gary Shandling. I liked the bits with the "Triangular Album" and the "Shite" record. For all the die-hard Rutles Fans out there, I'd say RUTLES 2 is worth one watch, at the very least. Maybe as a rental first to see if you think it's worth buying (I haven't decided yet). Because there are still some new laughs there, even if they're not as huge as they were in 1977. I can't imagine anyone who knows ALL YOU NEED IS CASH by heart not getting at least a few chuckles with RUTLES 2. But just don't expect too much. ** out of ****