Former SNL writer Pam Brady reportedly wrote Hot Rod, about a wannabe stuntman, with Will Ferrell in mind. Had that casting come to pass, it probably would have made buckets of money – instead, it bombed – but I’d argue the misfit, Eighties-loving Hot Rod is a better picture for being a Lonely Island project. Andy Samberg is the idiot Evel Knievel; Jorma Taccone plays his sweet half-brother and videographer; and future The Naked Gun helmer Akiva Schaffer directs (his debut). Fans of their The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast will recognize the same spirit animating this 2007 comedy: profound silliness undergirded by real tenderness. – Kimberley Jones
