Epic Movie

D
Epic Movie
Rated PG-13; Directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer; Starring Kal Penn, Jayma Mays, Adam Campbell, Faune A. Chambers, Jennifer Coolidge, Fred Willard

Please shoot me. Now. How come such attractive young actors, along with some seasoned comic veterans, end up in such a stinky mess? Sure, spoof movies are inevitably uneven, but you do expect a laugh or two, don’t you?

“Epic Movie” tries to go the route of the more successful spoofs “Date Movie” and “Scary Movie.” Writers and directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer also wrote and directed the more successful spoofs. In “Epic Movie” they go after movies that are not necessarily epic, unless you consider “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” an epic film. We also get lame scenes spoofing “Nacho Libre,” “The Da Vinci Code,” and “Snakes on a Plane.” Um, do the writers understand what an epic movie is? It’s not until we end up in a Narnia-like place that the title even begins to make sense.

We also find some of the funniest people in film fumbling for a laugh. Jennifer Coolidge as the White Bitch (yeah, that’s the kind of humor in this movie) and Fred Willard as Aslo barely survive. The main characters, four orphans brought together, are attractive actors. Adam Campbell, Kal Penn, Faune A. Chambers, and Jayma Mays make the most of their time on screen, though the writers were stuck figuring out jokes for poor Faune A. Chambers. Her role is to get irritated at Jayma Mays character. Ha ha.

I expect stupid humor in a spoof movie, but all we get in “Epic Movie” is the stupid – the humor seems to be missing. You can manage a few titters here and there, plus there is a decent music video spoof, but otherwise, “Epic Movie” is an epic failure.