Here’s a hidden camera comedy that subverts the genre into brilliant, belly-bursting laughs, so much so that I’m ready to call “Bad Trip” the comedy of the year.
Directed by Kitao Sakurai (responsible for gonzo, batshit crazy episodes of “The Eric André Show”), “Bad Trip” uses the unsuspecting pranked extras here as part of the narrative. Eric Andre plays naive dimwit Chris, and Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out”) is his smarter more reserved friend, Bud. After Eric has a disastrous run-in at his smoothie-making job with his high school crush Maria (Michaela Conlin), our protagonists decide to move from Florida to New York for Eric to proclaim his love for Maria.
When Bud and Chris need a car to get to NYC, they “borrow” the shitbox that Bud’s sister, Trina (Tiffany Haddish), owns. She’s in jail, so he figures that it’s no big deal, but then the car gets destroyed and, to make matters worse, Trina breaks out of jail, hunting Bud and Chris for destroying her car.
Haddish, the scene-stealer in “Girls Trip,” is a comedic force of nature here, relishing the opportunity of being a dangerous criminal and storming into every set-piece here with the kind of intensity that almost matches Andre’s. “Almost” being the key word. Andre, mostly known for his gonzo-crazy Adult Swim talk show, “The Eric Andre Show,” is an outrageously funny physical performer. This role has him constantly screaming and running for most of the film’s 100 minute runtime.
Wait until you see André bursting into song and dance in front of confused onlookers. He’s finally realized he’s in love with Maria and, mocking movie musical clichés, sings and dances in an over-the-top number filled with singers, dancers and props. All done in front of an unassuming public that have no idea they are props for a movie.
The unscripted human behaviour makes for some incredibly funny, abrasive scenes — including one where Haddish confronts people at a diner about whether they’ve seen our two protagonists. She tosses around fliers with Bud and Chris’ faces on them, literally saying she will kill them if found. She leaves, Bud and Chris suddenly appear minutes later, and everyone’s response, with some people trying to warn them, is hilariously humane.
Throughout the road trip, we get slapstick pranks, with chemistry between our two main actors always infectiously riotous. There’s a grocery store drug trip that has to be seen to be believed. A sudden car crash sequence is particularly well planned out, with cameras and extras ready nearby. Another gag involves both of their penises being glued together by a Chinese fingertrap. I was laughing so hard that I barely had time to settle down for the next gut-busting hilarious set-piece.
“Bad Trip” isn’t like “Jackass” or “Bad Grandpa” or even “Borat 2” because, unlike those films, it actually wants to be cinematic, taking its central story as seriously as its gags. It doesn’t use or manipulate people’s reactions for fodder; they aren’t mocking the pedestrians as dummies, but want to induce a genuine reaction out of them to further the narrative. Andre’s improvisational skills make it possible for the film to aim for such ambitions. People are unaware that they’re now in Chris’ delusional story and are provoked to the point where they end up interacting with Chris, Bud and Trina.
SCORE: B+
Here's a small scoop for Sunday night. Nothing too exciting, since it concerns the once-promising Ben Wheatley, a filmmaker who broke out with the cult-horror gut-punch of "Kill List" and "A Field in England.”