A Night at the Roxbury: Special Collectors Edition – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Directed by:
John Fortenberry

Written by:
Steve Koren and Chris Kattan & Will Ferrel

Cast:
Will Ferrell Steve Butabi
Chris Kattan Doug Butabi
Dan Hedaya Kamehl Butabi
Molly Shannon Emily Sanderson
Richard Grieco Himself

The Film:

The mid-nineties ushered in the last real golden era for Saturday Night Live, so far. Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri, Jim Breuer, Darrell Hammond and above all Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan took over and brought the funny in ways that many people believed SNL was incapable to do any more. They brought fresh comedy and great new characters. Two of those characters were the Roxbury Guys, played by Ferrell and Kattan. They were wannabe clubbers, going out every night trying to score at the local clubs, only to get shot down. Kattan and Ferrell were often joined by a guest “Roxbury Guy” who bobbed his head with them to the tune of Haddaway’s “What is Love,” – Tom Hanks and Jim Carrey are the most memorable. These characters became so popular that by 1998 they were transferred to the big screen in A Night at the Roxbury.

The movie follows the two brothers, Steve and Doug Butabi, on their quest to fulfill their dream of not only being allowed entry to a night club, but to own and run their own club. But their regular lives are quite the opposite of their dream lives; they work for their father’s flower shop. Their dad also plans to marry Steve to Emily Sanderson, the daughter of a potential business partner.

During their nightlife adventures the brothers (literally) bump into Richard Grieco, of 21 Jump Street fame (sort of), who makes the connection between them and a club owner, with whom they share their unique idea for a club. But before they can realize their dream things take a turn for the worse, Steve gets engaged to Emily, the brothers fight and sever all contact, until Doug rescues Steve and all is good.

Some SNL based movies are really good and have a life of their own, disconnected from the skits on the show. Wayne’s World and The Blues Brothers – the original, not the sequel – come to mind. I don’t think A Night at the Roxbury really belongs in that category. What hurts it the most, in my eyes, that the skits were funny but they didn’t use dialogue, they were based around the visual aspect. Once they needed to write dialogue for the guys and place them outside the “comfort zone” of nightclubs, something went wrong. While it has some funny jokes, it’s not consistently funny, and it feels stretched, even though it’s only 81 minutes long. A Night at the Roxbury will give you a few laughs when you see it for the first time, but will seem less and less funny with more viewings.

The DVD:

A single disc release, housed within a keep case with snapper flaps. You don’t see many snappers these days, which is a shame, because they’re much sturdier than the standard keep case.

Audio/Video:

Both transfers are pretty decent. Haddawy’s sound is getting its proper treatment and “What is Love” completely takes over you.

The Extras:

For a “Special Collector’s Edition” this release is a bit disappointing. Score!is a standard 25 minutes retrospect on the making of the movie, featuring new interviews with crew members and old interview clips with Kattan and Ferrel. There are also two short featurettes about the clothing design and choreography that went into making the movie. The last featurette deals with the club scene and its various aspects, but it’s less than 10 minutes long, so isn’t really serious. These featurettes don’t merit the title of “Special Collector’s Edition,” as the studio decided to call this release.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for A Night at the Roxbury
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

7
THE VIDEO

8
THE AUDIO

8
THE EXTRAS

7
REPLAY VALUE

6
OVERALL
7
(NOT AN AVERAGE)