Without A Paddle (12A)

Without A Paddle to me, in terms of comedy, was kind of like if Disney had made Road Trip. It doesn't really take crazy risks, the plot's all very happy, good guys win out, moral lessons aplenty. etc. However, I have to disagree with Jayscandal's review, because it is really funny. Seth Green makes for a great dork and the other 2 characters are good too. Go watch. You will laugh for a good few hours, it honestly doesn't matter if it's a bit cheesy if it's still funny.

Without A Paddle review

by Joshua Morrall

Rating: 2/5

This is not a good film. I thought it might surprise me, the trailer wetted my appetite for Seth Green and Dax Shepherd who looked to be on top comedy form, and despite the fact that I loathe every inch of Matthew Lillard's smug face, I decided that I would go and see Without A Paddle.

It's a simple premise, three school buddies reunite to go and hunt down a treasure they fantasised about finding when their old buddy (Antony Starr) was still alive. Whilst there, they encounter many humorous obstacles, fat, redneck weed growers included, and calamity and very rare comedy ensues.

The film's weakness lies in its lack of comedy. There are certainly moments, but they are fleeting and quickly replaced by a return to the serious nature of much of the friends' dialogue. The characters' chemistry is mediocre in quality and their most positive feature is that they are are given quite singular personalities, which helps the comedy work well whenever it raises its elusive head from out of the undergrowth, with the exception of Lillard's character Jerry, who seems to be torn in two directions and makes him less amusing to watch than the others.

The plot is simple and executed to its full extent. And you are certainly getting your money's worth as this film seems to stretch on for quite some time, the New Zealand location giving the film an epic quality which is wasted.

Without A Paddle could have been very little more than it was. The actors all do their jobs and there is a fairly well-used but well-meaning moral handed to us at the end (with a lead weight). The film wants to push itself more into the drama (and in some ways romance) than it can really handle, and the strong homoerotic element is depressingly dealt with in a childish fashion. Their needs to be a much greater injection of comedy (one-liners, set pieces and slapstick) than there is, with less of the drawn-out, flat chase sequences. Without A Paddle is how this cast should have stayed.