Courtesy Photo
"DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR"
87 minutes | Rated: PG-13
Opened: Friday, December 15, 2000
Directed by Danny Leiner
Starring Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott, Kristy Swanson, Marla Sokoloff, Jennifer Garner, Bob Clendenin, Mitzi Martin
Cameos by Fabio, Brent Spiner, Andy Dick
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COUCH CRITIQUE
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SMALL SCREEN SHRINKAGE: 20%
LETTERBOX: NOT NECESSARY
Dude, rent "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" instead!
VIDEO RELEASE: 06.26.2001
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Stoner comedy sent off track by sci-fi plot, low laugh ratio
A funny concept that gets too dumb in too much of a hurry, "Dude, Where's My Car?" is a low-brow comedy about two stoners trying to find one dude's beat-up Yugo the morning after a night of partying so awesome they can't remember a thing about it.
Sweet, dude!
Desperately tying to retrace their steps because they left presents for their bimbo girlfriends in the trunk, the two stoned boneheads discover their previous 12 hours apparently included strippers, jock bullies, getting tattooed, boffing Kristy Swanson ("Big Daddy") in the back seat, and five "extremely hot chicks with large breasts" in leather jump suits who turn out to be aliens looking for something called the Continuum Transponder.
Two buff (and possibly gay) Swedish alien guys and a cult of teenage sci-fi nerds in bubble-wrap space suits are also looking for the Continuum Transponder, so you can probably guess how the movie goes wrong. Instead of sticking to its nugget of potentially inspired idiot satire -- just a pair of fried fools searching for their lost car -- "Dude" flies off on a tangent and gets way lost, dude.
Playing the leads are Ashton Kutcher, who is as stupid and funny as he is in much the same role on "That '70s Show," and Seann William Scott ("Road Trip"), who is just annoying and apparently capable of only one, brain-dead perma-grin of a facial expression.
Clearly meant to be a "Bill and Ted" type dumb-funny for Generation Y, "Dude" lacks the plot logistics which kept that iconic '80s comedy from running off in 18 directions at once and falling apart. Director Danny Leiner seems to just throw weak gags (most of them involving boobs) at the screen hoping some will stick. His success rate: about 10 losers for every small laugh.
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