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Tour de Pharmacy

7/22/2017

8 Comments

 

B+
​3.48

A raunchy satire of a drug-fueled Tour de France.

Directed by Jake Szymanski
Starring Andy Samberg, Freddie Highmore, and Daveed Diggs
​Initial Review by Shane Setnor

Picture
In order for a joke to be funny, there has to be some sort of underlying truth as the foundation of the joke. We’ve talked a lot about Adam Sandler quite a bit in this group since he’s the comedian we grew up with. Sandler’s work suffers oftentimes because there is no foundation of truth underneath him. I love Billy Madison, but objectively it’s a goofy and silly movie rather than one that is funny. You look at Happy Gilmore, a more successful comedy, and you can see why it’s rated better. It’s playfully mocking the perception of the seriousness of golf. It has a foundation to stand on rather than just being a man-child who has a clown nearly die at his pool party. ​

​Tour de Pharmacy is built upon a foundation of something that exists. It relies on something true. It’s a mockumentary that takes on the seriousness of sports documentaries, the rampant and obvious drug abuse in cycling, and the ridiculousness of cycling around France for a month. (I love that they seriously use the HBO Sports logo in the beginning and never bother explaining that this is a joke.)

But what really sets this film apart is that star Andy Samberg and writer Murray Miller correctly rely on the truth that no one really knows a damn thing about cycling. We have no reason to believe people similar to these characters don’t exist. And in each one of the 5 main characters, there’s someone recognizable.

​
For example, the deft touch of Samberg’s character representing “Africa” to the ire of Africans is a great balance of subtlety and overt anger. The movie mostly lets us judge Marty Hass without being telling us he’s a piece of shit. And rather than telling the viewer they should be offended on the behalf of “Africans,” we get some great lines from Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and company. “Are you talking about Marty Hass? Fuck Marty Hass!” We all know a white guy who claims to represent people of color because of where he grew up. Hass is more absurd than the guy you know, but his character works because it’s based on a truth.

(For example of a character that doesn’t work in this setting is Lena Dunham’s turn as representing a clothing designed for Jordache in 7 Days of Hell. That character doesn’t exist in the real world and her only attribute was bad hair and old clothing coupled with the fact that Lena Dunham isn’t very funny. There was no truth or substance behind that character.)

Even when this movie veers off course, the bits work. The explanation of blood doping via Phylicia Rashad’s angry animator is a bizarre turn that had me laughing out loud. Likewise, the Scandinavian credit card commercial, which is based on actual Scandinavian commercials (look it up), breaks up the monotony of the dry interviews with the athletes.

From the bedrock of truth underneath this movie to all the cameos to all of the sideshows, this movie is inherently rewatchable. It’s about as good as a mockumentary can be. I have nothing to complain about.

A
8 Comments
Admin
7/22/2017 10:09:57 pm

For direct replies to the original review

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Bryan
7/23/2017 09:50:18 pm

I love your review, but I have some comments for you.

"It has a foundation to stand on"

Good point, not sure I'd considered this when viewing a comedy. Do you wish to explain your grade for Step Brothers, which has seemingly nothing to stand on?

"But what really sets this film apart is ... no one really knows a damn thing about cycling."

Hey now. Some of us have seen more cycling races through California than NFL games on TV in the last year.

"the ridiculousness of cycling around France for a month."

This line could fit any sporting event, as they're all ridiculous.

Reply
Bobby
7/22/2017 10:18:30 pm

Tour de Pharmacy was... fine.

I agree that it had a lot of strong comedic elements based on the truth of the subject and recognizable personas of the characters.

I could have done with out Lance Armstrong's entire part, let alone how often we had to see him making sure he was undercover. The interviews were less than spectacular, with an exception or two. And they went with the 'dicks are funny' too many times, even though, yeah, it was funny the first time.

My favorite parts were probably Mike Tyson and his childhood stories and Punch-Out clips.

I liked it, didn't love it. Have a B-.

and Fuck Marty Hass!

Reply
Bryan
7/23/2017 09:39:20 pm

I've spent entirely too much time thinking about what Andy Samberg comedies really are. As I was talking to the pastor of my church this morning, he brought up movies and asked what I had seen. I was trying to explain Popstar, 7 Days in Hell, and this to him, but it was tough. I came to the conclusion that Samberg is mocking the amount of boobs shown in a typical comedy, drama, or action movie by having penises everywhere in his movies. At first I was annoyed, but when I look through the lens of mocking other movies, I'm down.

I couldn't relate to 7 Days in Hell, but as a cyclist and occassional Tour watcher, I thought this was pretty great. The Lance Armstrong bit hilarious, the first time, then it was awful. I'm down for 40 minutes of this comedy, B.

Reply
Sean
7/24/2017 09:31:39 am

I'm glad someone mentioned this was only 40 minutes.
Completely disagree with Bobby on Lance Armstrong, that is how you do a cameo. He probably did get used 1 too many times but each time he was on there was a joke.
As for the dick jokes, like all great men's clubs that eventually let in women we were founded on dick jokes.
A+++

Reply
Cooker
7/24/2017 10:40:15 am

I enjoyed Tour de Pharmacy and was glad it was treated as a “Sports Special Event” spoof and wasn’t a full-length feature film. Not sure how this would’ve worked at twice the length.

I started watching this one night while my wife was on the phone, but stopped after watching the first scene. My wife had bonded with my grandfather the summer before he passed away, watching the Tour de France together, and I thought she’d appreciate it. She enjoyed it, as well.

The mockumentary was well cast; a familiar face seemed to appear with each new scene. The humor was there; some of the raunchiness was a little ‘Meh’ in my book, but that’s apparently how I roll these days.

Well done. Good pick. A

Reply
Jon
7/26/2017 01:30:45 am

I watch a lot of documentaries. I think every documentarian is trying to enact real change with their films, like docs such as The Thin Blue Line or Blackfish (sorry, Shane) have. Such an impact is rare but nearly all treat that as a possibility, so an earnest, humorless tone is the rule. ESPN's 30 For 30 series, which are often directed by prolific documentarians, borrows this tone, but where docs like The Invisible War (about rape in the military) or Citizenfour (about Edward Snowden) need a journalistic rigor, sports docs do not. That's where the work of Andy Samberg and Jake Szymanski come in. With their two HBO spoofs of overheated Real Sports/30 For 30 segments, they're bringing these games back to earth and away from the godlike stature these docs often bestow on their subjects. Their latest, Tour de Pharmacy, is weirder and better-made than their first entry, Seven Days in Hell, while also being one of the funniest comedies since Samberg's Popster: Never Stop Never Stoppin'. Samberg and his stable of collaborators might be the best joke-for-joke comedic creators working right now.

The bulk of Samberg's career is about deflating people with too high an opinion of themselves. Whether that's musicians, daredevils, cops, or now athletes, he's great at seeing through bluster and bravado and locating the pathetic little boy underneath. Syzymanski may have directed and Murray Miller may have written, but Samberg's fingerprints are all over this. Anyone with a high opinion of themselves or their organizations is set up for a fall. The anti-doping agency, represented by a deadpan Nathan Fiedler, is hapless, Kevin Bacon's biking association president is dumb and corrupt, and the cyclists themselves are sure their accomplishments are going to far more important than they actually are. Daveed Diggs' Slim Robinson was the first black man to win the Tour de France, but revolutionary cartoonist Victoria Young (Phylicia Rashad) has never heard of him. So many of the jokes come from supposed experts or leaders being revealed as vain or useless, revealing an anti-authoritarian streak that appeals to me.

Much of the rest of the jokes come from sheer lunacy. Seven Days in Hell had an extended interlude about orgies in Swedish prisons animated in the style of Korean spoof videos, and the memorable career of a Scandanavian courtroom artist. Those kind of non sequiters make their way into Tour de Pharmacy as well. The Mike Tyson's Punch-Out animation is pointless and hilarious, plus the Finnish commercial, Chris Webber, and the insanity of the educational blood cell video. Tour de Pharmacy is 40 minutes long with a lead cast of five, but they still make time for these bonkers time-outs.

The final miracle in Tour de Pharmacy is how so much of the deep cast is able to make their mark and differentiate themselves. Everyone has at least one memorable line or reaction. Standouts include Freddie Highmore in an excellent physical performance. His running during the French News Wave segment is my pick for the film's best acting. Maya Rudolph is predictable great, particularly her scenes over the end credits. Nathan Fielder is perfectly cast as the anti-doping head/amateur artist/bear rapist, and Will Forte's drug-addled gendarme anchors the film's funniest segment. As for Lance Armstrong, he's game, but I'm a little queasy about him getting a public rehabilitation. Mike Tyson went to jail for his crimes, but I don't know if Armstrong has properly made his penance. Anyone that knows more about him care to weigh in?

Tour de Pharmacy is as joke dense as some of the most clever TV comedies and is cinematically impressive, too. It ably apes the style of like-minded projects, and hopefully becomes one of those spoofs (They Came Together, Walk Hard) that makes it harder to take sports docs/romantic comedies/musician biopics seriously. It's certainly put a shorthand for cyclists' physiques in my head (alien, horse). Based on its fluff and slipperiness, I'm going to give Tour de Pharmacy a very warm B+. For comedies to reach the A range, I like them to have some degree of pathos or insight (Team America, Bad Santa, Anchorman). Like Popstar, Tour de Pharmacy is a peerless laugh machine but it lacked that extra oomph. Perhaps some extra blood or a sandwich from Arby's could've gotten it there.

Reply
Drew
8/9/2017 09:06:34 am

I don't like Andy Samberg but this wasn't terrible.

Grade: B

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