2/14/07: LolliLove (2004)It’s a good thing that we’re keeping this website such a secret. Otherwise, it could really screw up some careers. Consider the strange case of screenwriter James Gunn, who graduated from the sleaze of the Troma studio (having penned
Tromeo and Juliet) to scripting both the big-screen
Scooby-Doo and
Scooby-Doo 2.
He’s also turned out an impressive novel and some great conservative films. We’ve already addressed
Slither, and another one’s being saved for this Halloween. Or maybe for when we’re stumped for a better idea. Anyway, Gunn and his bride—Jenna Fischer, from NBC’s
The Office—also put together $2,000 to make an hour-long epic that’s the definitive goof on Hollywood charities. And then they starred in it as themselves.
There's obvious inspiration from Larry David’s
Curb Your Enthusiasm—which, as we’ll discuss someday, started as great conservative comedy—but the team of Gunn & Fischer are taking a greater risk.
Scooby-Doo money isn’t the same as
Seinfeld money. And
LolliLove is a deadly accurate thumb in the eye of Larry David’s wife, and all the other Hollywood blownbrains who decide they can solve the world’s problems.
The fictional Jenna is a frustrated starlet who doesn’t have enough famous friends. She’s trolling for a fashionable charity, and is finally inspired to hand out free lollipops wrapped in inspirational messages. This strikes husband James as a splendid idea—mainly because his screenwriting career has dwarfed his important artistic talents that he must share with the world. James starts designing the wrappers, and the LolliLove campaign is born.
Except, of course, they need $250,000 to make the project worth their time.
Their fundraising efforts are an insidious laff riot, as sycophants and showbiz pals (playing themselves) try to cash in on the LolliLove campaign—while oblivious to the inherent racism of James’ moronic illustrations. Fortunately,
LolliLove offers more than the sight of self-obsessed creeps trying to inspire terrorists to lick themselves into pacifism. The film also has true dramatic weight as it explores what passes for love between these two narcissists. That kind of derails the comedy, but
LolliLove is still funnier than Christopher Guest’s last two films.
Make it your own: Gunn went back to his old employers to handle
LolliLove’s distribution, and Troma did a fine job with last year’s
DVD release. (Otherwise,
LolliLove seems to have only played a few festivals). The three hours of bonus features include commentary about the grisly true tales that inspired the film. And don’t forget to visit
the MySpace page.
