Saturday, May 2, 2015

Theme Week part 2-Corey Feldman

National Lampoon's Last Resort

plot: After Sam and Dave are tossed out of their apartment, they get a letter from Sam's uncle who owns a themed resort, asking them to come work for him. Thinking they are trained scuba divers, he wants them to help find a lost treasure in order to save the island. Having lied to him, the two find themselves battling their uncle's biggest foe who wants the island for himself.

This is a 1993/94 slapstick comedy starring both Corey Feldman and Corey Haim.

There is a lot of overlap with the idea of escaping reality. The character of the uncle is a former actor who can't seem to leave his biggest role, while his biggest foe is another former actor who feels he got stuck in the role of villain. At the same time, we see Sam disappearing into his fantasies while Dave is a cyber punk who lives in video games.
The "villain" is seen constantly dressed in old costumes from his films, which are meant to punctuate his only form of power.

I like the addition of the island priestess character, even though she's over the top in typical slapstick style. You've also got the family who have adopted an extreme fan style, dressing like the pirate characters, talking like them and changing their names to fit the plot. This lends to the idea that balance is needed to be found when dealing with fantasy vs reality.

This is a funny movie for what it is, which is an over the top slapstick. 

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