As you look deeper into Control Alt Delete‘s story you see a story about self-acceptance and accepting the flaws in other people. As you put the layers back on and look at the base of the story, it’s about a guy having sex with computers. No you didn’t read that wrong. He drills a hole in the side of the computer tower, puts a roll of bubble wrap in the hole and then puts something else in the hole. And no, that isn’t just a side type story that lives on the edges of the story; it is the story. The climactic scene of the movie is him having sex with a server to stop Y2K. Because unplugging the server or smashing it or stopping the upload some other way wouldn’t work apparently.
Did I lose you yet? Okay, good. Because despite the odd way the story plays out the heart of the movie is pretty good. At the start, Tyler Labine’s longtime girlfriend breaks up with him because he can’t be romantically physical with her because he’s hooked on computer porn. And I think if they would have kept with that story they would have found a bigger audience who can somewhat relate, but they went over the top in an attempt to be funny. After his attempts to fix himself to get her back fail, he starts his escapades with computers.
After a while he starts doing it with computers at work as well; to cover up his deeds he starts going out with the new receptionist at his work place so if someone asks where he was, he can say he was with her. As they go out he begins to actually fall for her until he finds out she is an internet porn star. She has a site with a toilet cam. He is disgusted by this because he can’t handle it mentally or emotionally.
All while that story is going on his company is trying to write computer code to prevent computers from crashing for Y2K. Did I mention this movie is based in 1999? This adds stress to his life since he continually fails to get the code right, in fact he never gets it right but eventually figures out that all they need to do is leave the computers alone and they’ll continue to work just as they always did. However, his boss decides to upload the broken code anyway and he is forced to figure out a way to stop the code from being uploaded to the server.
As he’s on his way to the server room, his adversary who had set up cameras to spy on the company falls through the ceiling while fixing a camera leading to a brief fight scene. The fight ends when a Walkie Talkie, that somehow managed to stay perfectly upright despite the guy holding it falling through a ceiling, starts rocking back and forth because of the force of the fight. It eventually falls through the hole in the ceiling and knocks the “bad guy” out for about 8 hours from the flow of the movie. I’m not sure I could smash a person over the back of the head with a Walkie Talkie and knock them out for 8 hours.
Control Alt Delete is listed as a comedy, and there are a couple really good laughs throughout. It’s well written, the set ups are good and the punch lines usually come through. The acting isn’t terrible considering how cheaply made it was.
Control Alt Delete is presented in 16×9 Widescreen Aspect Ratio and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. It’s well shot and it looks and sounds fine.
The extras include a bunch of interviews with the cast and the writer director. Its interviews, not exactly riveting stuff, is pretty interesting.
Control Alt Delete is not the worst movie I’ve ever seen because it comes through on what it promises. It’s got a good story, a couple good laughs, and lots of naked chubby guy having sex with a computer.
Hard Drive Films presents Control Alt Delete. Directed by: Cameron Labine. Starring: Tyler Labine, Sonja Bennett, Alisen Down. Written by: Cameron Labine. Running time: 93 Minutes. Rating: Rated R. Released on DVD: June 15, 2010.
