Director:
Walt Becker
Starring:
Tim Allen ………. Doug Madsen
John Travolta ………. Woody Stevens
Martin Lawrence ………. Bobby Davis
William H. Macy ………. Dudley Frank
Marisa Tomei ………. Maggie
Jill Hennessy ………. Kelly Madsen
Ray Liotta ………. Jack
The Movie
When a guy reaches a certain age he tends to go through a so called “mid-life crisis.” He realizes he isn’t a young buck anymore, and decide to buy a new sports car or date that hot young girl next door to get more excitement out of life. Ideally that doesn’t help, though. Usually it takes the support of the people already around to get you through this rough patch. Walt Becker decides to take a closer look at this crisis phenomenon and directs some big-name actors in Wild Hogs. The question we are left to ponder is, would this film be this generation’s version of City Slickers or end up being like the sophomoric and juvenile Van Wilder (also directed by Walt Becker)?
Hogs is about four middle-aged men who decide to take a road trip from Cincinnati to the Pacific in order to get away from their lives, which are leading them nowhere. Taking their motorcycles, these “Wild Hogs” tear up the road and eventually stop in New Mexico for a drink not knowing that the bar belongs to the “Del Fuegos,” a mean biker gang. When the Del Fuegos lay claim to a bike that belongs to the “Wild Hogs,” the four men form a plan to steal the bike back.
This is a coming-of-age story that features a twist in that the main actors are all closer to 50 than 18 or 21. As individual actors, each lead is a formidable star. However, at times there seems to be too much star power. John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy are all very funny actors. They all can provide great comedy moments, but often times they seem to be trying to outdo each other. The combination of these actors looks good on paper, but in execution it just looks like they were just thrown together at the last minute.
Walt Becker attempts to give everyone enough screen time and lines, but unfortunately what he gives them is straight from the script of Van Wilder. Most of the jokes are either based on being homophobic or they are the classic “objects collide with various parts of your body” jokes. Granted, there are some jokes that are genuinely funny and there are times when the four “friends” do actually seem to be just that, but these times are few and far between.
The main flaws for this film are not the main stars’ fault, though. In fact, with an ordinary cast this film would be dreadful and probably unwatchable. John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy, along with Marisa Tomei and Ray Liotta all attempt to save this film and make it better than it is. The main problem comes from the directing. Walt Becker does little of that. He loves the subject matter, but just doesn’t know how to direct so many big stars on the same little screen. His direction was fine for his previous effort, but this time he really drags Wild Hogs down.
With another script, the combination of John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy could have been really great and magical. But with poor directing and a lackluster verbiage, these guys are just trying to keep their heads above water. In the end, this movie probably would have been better being called Van Wilder 3 and replacing the entire cast with young no-name actors. Either that or keep the same cast and replace Walt Becker with a better director, and then this film might have been the next City Slickers. As it is, Wild Hogs is left stuck in the mud.
The Video:
The video is given in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen color, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The video quality is crisp and clean. It’s really above average compared to other new releases these days. No major problems at all.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French as well. No problems real problems here either. The music and dialogue comes out loud and clear.
The Extras:
Audio Commentary –
There is a full-length commentary with director, Walt Becker, and writer, Brad Copeland. This is decent enough and fairly informative. However, it would have been nice if the main cast could have gotten involved in this as well. Still this commentary does what it’s supposed to do.
“Bikes, Brawls and Burning Bars: The Making of Wild Hogs” Featurette –
This is a 15 minute featurette that is all about the making of the movie, as if you couldn’t guess. The usual stuff is here. It is interesting to note that Becker actually sold Harley Davidson motorcycles to pay for his film school. So it’s got that going for it.
“How To Get Your Wife To Let You Buy A Motorcycle” Featurette –
This is a short featurette that speaks for itself. Jack Gill, stunt coordinator on the set, tells you briefly how you can talk your wife into letting you buy a motorcycle. Tips such as telling her you won’t ride it on the freeway, wearing leather, and looking intimidating are all discussed here. But really this is not worth your time that much as it’s extremely short. Better off viewing the “behind-the-scenes” featurette instead.
Alternate Ending –
Basically this ending is only a couple of minutes and it doesn’t provide enough closure for the movie. The director wanted to have these guys end up in California, which is ending in the movie. This one just has the guys ride off into the sunset, basically. That actually could have worked, but it’s really nothing special.
Deleted Scenes –
There are only a couple of these scenes and neither one is worth watching. Although, one does feature John Travolta’s sister, so that’s interesting I suppose.
Outtakes –
There is about 3 minutes of outtakes. There is some funny stuff here, but not as funny as you might expect. Still decent.
If you don’t expect quality laughs, then you won’t be disappointment. This movie had potential to be better, but as it is I can only recommend a rental and that’s about it. Even fans of the individual actors would have to question buying this film.
