"Written and directed by Andy Dick". No 6 words have ever more precisely described a film. If you know who Andy Dick is, you already know from those 6 words if you'll love or hate this movie. If you don't know who he is, why would you ever bother with Danny Roane: First Time Director? What, your internet was down and your local video store was out of everything, including the first season of "She's The Sheriff"? In case you're reading this review and don't know Dick, he's a comic actor who had a run at minor league stardom on the show "Newsradio" only to see his life consumed by his addictions and asinine behavior. This film is mockumentary following Danny Roane (Andy Dick), a former TV star whose career was destroyed by his alcoholism, as he tries to resurrect himself by writing and directing a movie about his painful journey. It starts with Danny's spectacularly inept efforts as a filmmaker and quickly sees him relapse into booze and spiral out of control while everybody else either stands around or does their own bits of shtick.
About 50% of Danny Roane: First Time Director is an obvious attempt to mimic the awkwardness-as-humor style of "The Office", with Danny alternating between a slightly more self-aware Michael Scott and a drunken Dwight Schrute. About 25% is Dick flailing around on screen in a desperate attempt to provoke laughter. The final 25% is inspired lunacy like a music video starring Adolph Hitler and James Van Der Beek getting his ass shaved. While much of the comedy, both the subtle and willfully offensive, falls flat, there's enough laugh-out-loud funny stuff here to keep this 83 minute long film going well, not exactly strong. Let's say that every time you start to slip into boredom, Danny Roane tickles your balls just enough to keep you interested.
Unfortunately, while Andy Dick is a far better filmmaker than his alter ego, he's still not much of a storyteller. There's no plot here except "Line 10 - Danny does something stupid. Line 20 - Go to line 10". Other than Danny having an obese best friend, a suck up assistant director and an arbitrary conflict with his film's set designer, there's little reality, rhyme or reason to any of the characters or their relationships. The script also has several roles which appear to be leftovers from previous drafts. The characters were kept but 90% of what they were supposed to do in the story appears to have been cut out.
To his credit, though, Dick does generate some honest humor. It ranges from a malfunctioning vomit machine and the revelation of what happens to the butthole of a hardcore drinker when they stop cold turkey to a naked Danny passing out on the lawn of the beautiful Maura Tierney and a music video that combines 80s fashions, beach volleyball and AIDS. I've sat through a lot of supposedly hilarious indy films that left me stone faced. I laughed quite a few times at Danny Roane: First Time Director.
If you never understood why people found Andy Dick funny, you won't find any answers here. If you've enjoyed his work in the past, you'll like this movie even more. If you've never heard of Andy Dick, I'm sure you can find an episode of "It's Your Move" floating around on the web.
About 50% of Danny Roane: First Time Director is an obvious attempt to mimic the awkwardness-as-humor style of "The Office", with Danny alternating between a slightly more self-aware Michael Scott and a drunken Dwight Schrute. About 25% is Dick flailing around on screen in a desperate attempt to provoke laughter. The final 25% is inspired lunacy like a music video starring Adolph Hitler and James Van Der Beek getting his ass shaved. While much of the comedy, both the subtle and willfully offensive, falls flat, there's enough laugh-out-loud funny stuff here to keep this 83 minute long film going well, not exactly strong. Let's say that every time you start to slip into boredom, Danny Roane tickles your balls just enough to keep you interested.
Unfortunately, while Andy Dick is a far better filmmaker than his alter ego, he's still not much of a storyteller. There's no plot here except "Line 10 - Danny does something stupid. Line 20 - Go to line 10". Other than Danny having an obese best friend, a suck up assistant director and an arbitrary conflict with his film's set designer, there's little reality, rhyme or reason to any of the characters or their relationships. The script also has several roles which appear to be leftovers from previous drafts. The characters were kept but 90% of what they were supposed to do in the story appears to have been cut out.
To his credit, though, Dick does generate some honest humor. It ranges from a malfunctioning vomit machine and the revelation of what happens to the butthole of a hardcore drinker when they stop cold turkey to a naked Danny passing out on the lawn of the beautiful Maura Tierney and a music video that combines 80s fashions, beach volleyball and AIDS. I've sat through a lot of supposedly hilarious indy films that left me stone faced. I laughed quite a few times at Danny Roane: First Time Director.
If you never understood why people found Andy Dick funny, you won't find any answers here. If you've enjoyed his work in the past, you'll like this movie even more. If you've never heard of Andy Dick, I'm sure you can find an episode of "It's Your Move" floating around on the web.