Danny Roane: First Time Director (2006)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Andy Dick's fictional film within a film about a drunken comedian with a mediocre TV career attempting to make a movie about himself -- a drunken comedian with a mediocre TV career -- is astonishingly, one of the freshest, funniest movies I've seen in years. Even if you're no fan of the shtick you have seen Andy Dick do on TV and elsewhere, this movie catches you off guard with some of the most outrageously funny stuff I have ever seen. Similar to Borat in its honesty and fearlessness of taboos, this no holds barred hysterical perspective on indie film-making should not be missed. The cameos by numerous famous people are more than just cameos. They all have roles that add something funny and could only be played by that person. Watch for Bob Bancroft, the guy who used to play the evil head of the hospital on Chicago Hope, who is brilliant as Andy/Danny's Dad in this film.

The only reason I didn't get out of my seat and leave was because I was at the East Coast premiere and didn't want to be rude to Andy Dick.There were a couple funny parts in the beginning of the movie, but that's about it.You, yes YOU, could make a better movie just by using the video feature on your cell phone.He admittedly had no storyboard, no plan at all of what direction the movie was going, or anything. It was just him making it up as he went along. And that is OK for a bunch of high-schoolers wasting time, but not for a theatrical release. (Oh, and at the questions and answers forum after the screening, all Andy Dick did was make fun of everyone who asked a question...yes, he called a student a crack-head and another young woman fat).

I was at SXSW also. I saw both Danny Roane and Bondage. Bondage is a brilliant film that isn't supposed to make you laugh so hard beer comes out your nose. Bondage has very funny moments and doesn't have to resort to the lowest level of comedy known to humankind. Danny Roane is disjointed, fragmented and unapologetically offensive. It is a surreal mess of images, gross humor, & terrible dialog. Yes, there are some rather funny moments. But not enough to ever sit through it again. This time, once may have been too much. On a personal note, Eric Allen Bell is a very nice person. Eric did a fantastic job with his movie(Bondage)and Andy was very funny. The train wreck that followed the screening of Danny Roane was appalling at best.

Let's face it, Andy Dick is controversial. He is both loved and reviled. What most of the "Dick-Haters" don't get is: THEY ARE THE TARGET! Andy has made a very successful career out of exploiting his audience's preconceived notions of what he is. If you believe he is a troubled out-of-control lunatic, you will believe whatever the press feeds you, and you won't be disappointed. If you believe he is a genius, you'll find genius in his work. The truth is, the press is often naively drawn into his theater too. Much like Andy Kaufman, you really don't know what's real and what's theater. The same could be said of Andy Dick's directorial debut. "Danny Roane: First Time Director" is an unapologetic, politically incorrect, balls-out comedy, to the extreme! Danny Roane, a former TV star, has a drunken meltdown on national TV, and is quickly blackballed from show business. He decides to make a comeback by writing and directing his own autobiographical descent into alcoholism and recovery. On and off the set, a documentary film crew records his journey from beginning to end. Danny calls in favors from every celebrity he has ever worked with or met, and begins his cinematic masterpiece "DED DREM". When his alcoholism returns with a vengeance, his project and life spiral into madness. Watching Andy lambaste Hollywood and his own image is fearlessly funny. It's amazing how many fools leap to attack something that has just premiered at a single film festival. They just don't get it, and that's just the way Dick intended it. When you watch it with Dick's self-aware surreal absurdity in mind, you'll see the genius that lies beneath. I highly recommend it.