TENACIOUS D - MOVIE REVIEWS: TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY

MOVIE REVIEWS: TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY

Critics are having a tough time figuring out just what to make of Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, based on the Jack Black-Kyle Gass show on HBO. Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times even suggests that it "might best be enjoyed in an enhanced state of consciousness," a film in need of "an herbal supplement, and we aren't talking ginkgo biloba." Of course, the characters in the movie are seen enjoying such supplements, leading Stephen Rae in the Philadelphia Inquirer to remark that it gives "the term 'potty humor' a new meaning." Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune suggests it's probably the real stuff, too. "A large amount of dope is smoked in The Pick of Destiny," he writes, "perhaps the most since the salad days of Cheech & Chong. This may be the problem. Pot rarely helped anybody's comic timing." And Tom Maurstad in the Dallas Morning News sounds like the straight guy who has just arrived at a pot party. "It's pointless to nitpick a film this ostentatiously loose and loutish, but in the film's execution much of that spirit just comes off as lazy and careless," he comments. Still, Stephen Holden in the New York Times suggests that, approached in the right frame of mind, the film could be viewed as a "jolly rock 'n' roll comedy." He concludes: "As it wobbles from one episode to the next, "The Pick of Destiny" is a garish mess, and some of it feels padded. But it has enough jokes to keep you smiling, and the spirit Mr. Black brings to it is a fervent (and touching) affection for the music he spoofs but obviously adores."

24/11/2006