First Take Classics: Dude, Where’s My Car- but what does *mine* say

SYNOPSIS- Two potheads wake up after a night of partying and cannot remember where they parked their car.

I might be on a hiatus from the blog, but not a full hiatus- there will be the occasional review here and there. Let’s bring the year back to 2000- American Pie had just come out, the teen comedy was king, and cinemas had way fewer recliners than they do now. But this film attracted a lot of attention from audiences, and in one cinema’s case, predicted the future- Vue lot, this clip will tell you what I mean.

Danny Leiner does a decent job at directing this one, coming in at a tight 1 hour 23 minutes, and sure, while the script from Philip Stark is super far fetched for a comedy film, that adds to the charm of it a lot- the critics ripped it apart back then, but 20 years later, the film has a certain thing that makes it funnier than it really should have been. It’s shot well by Robert Stevens, making the most of what would have been an incredibly tight budget, the score from David Kitay is decent, and again, while the CG looks dated, it makes the film have a bit more character.

As for the performances, we’ve got a young Ashton Kutcher at the height of his That 70s Show run, and Seann William Scott as our leads. Obviously these two would become known for their antics in the early 2000s, with Kutcher becoming a very credible actor towards the start of the 2010s (I can say that now), and supporting them is quite a mixed cast which includes Jennifer Garner, Maria Sokoloff, Christian Middelthon, David Bannick, Kristy Swanson and Hal Sparks as a dude called Zoltan. It’s very much of it’s time, but considering that this is a film my generation grew up on, it’s looked upon as a legendary movie, and it’s infinitely rewatchable as a result.

THE VERDICT

Dude, Where’s My Car hasn’t aged much in the 20 years since its release. Yes, some of the CG looks pathetic now, but for my generation, this was one of our go-to films. Obviously I can’t give it a higher rating than this taking into account what works and what doesn’t, but it is a film I can easily watch again and again.

RATING- 3/5