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Farce of the Penguins

Review By: Damaris Olivo
DamarisOlivo@TheCinemaSource.com

After watching The Aristocrats, my faith in Bob Saget’s comedic talent was restored. So when I heard that he was working on a mockumentary featuring penguins and a cameo by Dane Cook, I was intrigued. I mean, who doesn’t like penguins these days? Then I saw Farce of the Penguins and felt a huge wave of disappointment.

I find that the funniest films are those that are either very subtle in delivery, or those that are completely outrageous. Farce of the Penguins is completely outrageous, but sickeningly repetitive. It has its very funny moments, but how many jokes about gassy penguins and balls does one have to endure before finally hearing something that deserves a chuckle. And why do the penguins have to complain about the cold weather throughout the entire film? Written and directed by Bob Saget, the spoof, consisting solely of stock footage is a parody of the hugely successful, Oscar winning, French film, March of the Penguins.

While the idea sounds entertaining and has a lot of potential, the dialogue was just saturated with predictable sexual references that just made you want to scream “enough, already! We get it! Sex starved penguins!” The film has an insane number of cameos by incredibly talented actors and comedians (including Carlos Mencia, Dane Cook, James Belushi, Harvey Fierstein, Jason Alexander, and a Full House semi-reunion). The amount of talent involved in this project is why one feels that tinge of disappointment while watching the film. One would have much higher expectations from these heavy hitters, and frankly the humor is repetitive and well, cheap. Somewhere in between the stock footage of penguins mating and the random wild animals popping in and out of the film to talk about their sex lives, they managed to get somewhat of a plot in there.

Farce of the Penguins tracks the journey of Carl (Bob Saget) and Jimmy (Lewis Black), two friends who are on their way to the penguin mating grounds. Carl’s feelings of inadequacy and his prior heartbreaks have led him to believe that he will never find the perfect woman. His buddy Jimmy decides to selflessly help his friend get out of this slump, and has convinced Carl to put himself out there to get some “hot booty.” Along the way they meet a very well endowed penguin named Marcus (Tracy Morgan), who is actually one of the funniest in the film.

On the female penguin end of the spectrum there’s Melissa (Christina Applegate) and Vicky (Mo’nique). Melissa is one of the prettiest penguins in Antarctica. Frustrated with the dating scene,