Review: Fubar Balls to the Wall DVD

STUDIO: Screen Media | DIRECTOR: Michael Dowse | CAST: David Lawrence, Jamil Jabril, Paul Spence, Terra Hazelton
RELEASE DATE: 4/19/11 | PRICE: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.98
BONUSES: commentary, deleted scenes
SPECS: R | 85 min. | Comedy | 2.35:1 widescreen | Dolby Digital 5.1 | English subtitles

RATINGS (out of 5): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall

Perhaps you wouldn’t have guessed that a film with the title Fubar: Balls to the Wall would be the one to give a substantial upgrade and a much more adult feel to the lovable-losers-funny-adventure-buddy movie genre, but it most certainly has. We can thank director Michael Dowse and the working-class Canadian town of Fort McMurray for that.

Terry (David Lawrence, Who is KK Downey?) and Deaner (Paul Spence, Peepers) are hard-partying deadbeat morons who begin the movie by destroying their house and decide to beg their fickle friend Tron (Andrew Sparacino) to get them a hilariously hazardous job on an oil pipeline in Fort McMurray, a setting whose high-risk, high-pay lifestyle lends the first inkling of dark themes to what eventually becomes a surprisingly serious movie. Terry hooks up with a strip-club waitress named Trish (Terra Hazelton) and the inevitable rift between the two buds begins.

This sequel to the 2002 mockumentary Fubar (a minor cult hit) represents one more step toward the future I envision in which all TV and movies will be shot in that “is it a faux documentary or not?” style of cinematography made famous by Reno 911, The Office, and Modern Family. One must admit: it just works.

What starts as a stoner odyssey slowly morphs into an almost meaningful family drama by the end – one that poses open-ended questions about what makes a man a man. And by no means does this shift detract from Fubar’s humor, especially for us yanks who get to laugh at the Canadian accents too. I recommend it as a much better film than meets the eye.

Bonus features include a commentary track and deleted scenes which were unfortunately not included on our advance screening copy of the disc.

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