Monday, February 23, 2015

Movie Review: Tusk (2014)

 
Well, I think it's safe to say that no movie has ever thrown me into such fits of laughter as the ones that I endured while watching the movie Tusk (and the ones that I had for a good hour afterward, every time I even thought about the movie). Trust me, weed is not really required to enjoy Tusk in all its pointless weird-ery. If Kevin Smith can make a movie about a walrus-man, then by golly, I can make up my own fucking words. Weirdery is now a word.

So apparently I never get out from under this rock I've been living because I had absolutely knew nothing about this movie or how or why it came to be. Got the whole story after I saw it and none of it surprised me in the least. Kevin Smith is an acquired taste of a filmmaker, known for films with somewhat ridiculous or stupid premises. The premise of Tusk, taken from a conversation on Smith's podcast (did anyone even know he had a podcast?), is that a young, douchebaggy podcaster named Wallace travels to Canada, answers an ad from Howard Howe who claims to have wild stories to tell, and ends up being turned into a human walrus monster by said guy.

I'm glad I was in such a good mood when I watched the movie - otherwise, I don't really know what my reaction to it would have been. Being a Tusk-virgin is really the best way to experience the movie. For the love of goodness, do not even Google the damn movie because the reveal of Wallace the Walrus will be completely ruined and you will miss out on the experience of seeing, for the first time, the funniest fucking thing you will see all year. But of course, I might be in the minority here because it seems that many people were not that impressed with Tusk or even thought it was that funny. I blame it on my good mood, but I seriously dug Tusk. Your initial reaction to the movie's silliness will probably be how you will always feel about it, so remember that if you venture into these very, very strange waters.

The reality that I'm seeing is that there was obviously no real point or reason behind Tusk, so it in turn would feel a bit pointless to look upon it negatively. It reminds me of the movie Rubber - absolutely stupid idea for a movie, but executed in a way that was more genius than I could have imagined. Smith is not generally my cup of tea - the only movie I've been really impressed with was Red State - and it's obvious that horror is not exactly his forte. Yet. He does show in Tusk that he does have a bit of an eye for the creepy, especially in the earlier scenes with Wallace and Howard. There's a good amount of tension built up there, which rightfully makes the viewer very suspicious of Howard, without really knowing what he has in mind. Smith also does a fairly good job with some aspects of the body horror side, but overall, pretty much everything is overshadowed by the comedy. This doesn't let the movie be truly horrific, so maybe Smith can work on that if he delves into horror again.

Justin Long is just the right combination of annoying and charming in his portrayal of Wallace Bryton. You sort of like him because he's funny, but you also want to punch him in the face to shut him up for five minutes. Probably the best decision Smith made with Tusk was hiring Michael Parks again after he kicked ass in Red State. I loved the way Parks dealt with Howard Howe, the strange man whose love affair with a walrus led to this whole twisted scenario. I can't imagine too many actors who could handle this movie like he did, and he did it with a sense of fun while still keeping his respect. A certain unnamed actor enters the story later on as Guy Lapointe, and is his usual odd self. His character is funny, but mostly a plot point, and one that really drags the movie down at that. Haley Joel Osment and Genesis Rodriguez round out the rest of the cast. Rodriguez is way too hot and nice to be Long's girlfriend in this movie, I know I'm not the first one to say it.

Call me crazy, but I'm giving Tusk a thumbs up. There's always room in horror for the truly bizarre, and sometimes the truly pointless, and this movie fits that bill perfectly. The actors commit to their roles, and the movie feels serious when it is completely not serious at all at the same time. It's good for a lot of laughs, but don't look for much beyond that.

17 comments:

  1. Sometimes stranger is good. I'll be prepared to laugh.

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    1. It's a toss up! Some people laugh, some just think it's stupid. Let me know!

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  2. I'm a loyal listener to Kevin Smith's podcasts, so I was listening in on the inception of this story and couldn't wait to see it brought to life. I loved the movie, but was never quite sure how much it would appeal to viewers who didn't listen to the podcast. I'm glad to hear you had so much fun with it even though you weren't "in on the joke" before it began.

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    1. I'm more than used to movies like this, so no, it wasn't a problem at all that I didn't know the story beforehand. I really enjoyed at the end of the final credits, though, where they played a part of the original podcast (at least I think it was)! Kind of made me want to listen to the whole thing!

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  3. I first heard of "Tusk" when it was in its early pre-production phase. I thought the whole concept was brilliant and hardly couldn't wait for Smith's first 'real' horror film. Unortunately, I couldn't do anything with it. The damn humor and especially Depp's lousy performance ruined it for me completely. Maybe I would have liked it more as a Tusk-virgin...

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    1. This definitely wasn't a real horror film, but it was a nice attempt, I guess. Sort of. Smith might get there eventually! :)
      I don't think Depp's performance itself was that bad - his whole appearance just felt like it was a time-filler and it really slowed the movie down a lot.

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  4. I liked Tusk, but Michael Parks really carried this film and was a big part of what made it effective. Asking the audience to buy into his crazy backstory and plan is asking A LOT, but he really pulled it off.

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    1. Michael Parks absolutely killed it here - I really don't know how well the movie would have worked without him!

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  5. I enjoy Tusk quite a bit. I'm always in favour of any movie where Michael Parks gets to prove why he's arguably the best character actor ever, and I think Tusk, as silly as it was, was another example of Parks on form.

    It took me awhile to adjust to the comedic shift when Depp appeared. I thought it was working well as a strange, darkly amusing horror movie then it just turned into stupid comedy. However, it was still fun once it got rolling. Tusk as horror movie could have been great, but as a comedy it's pretty damn entertaining nonetheless and another great effort from Smith. He seems to enjoy making movies again and it shows here

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    1. The more I see Parks in lately, the more I absolutely love the guy. Now I see why certain filmmakers are so obsessed with him.
      Depp's whole segment was way too long, but you're right - eventually, it worked well with the rest of the film. After Red State and now Tusk, I think Smith is on a great track, and I hope he does more in the future.

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    2. Parks is amazing. He's always great, even if the movie sucks. He can steal a movie with a single scene. I love the guy. Red State was awesome too and the change Smith needed. I like how he's still embracing his comedy in his horror though. He'll always be a comedy guy, but it's nice to see it applied to darker movies

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  6. I was in the same boat. I couldn't exactly get behind Tusk, but it was entertaining to sit and watch. Depp's scenes were neat but ruined any sense of urgency that the other characters tried to carry as they were desperately searching for Wallace. "OMG, we gotta go find Wallace. He's in danger. Well, I guess we have some time to kill. Let's listen to this crazy fucker for a bit.". Mehh.-Cory

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    1. Exactly! Like, why does the backstory that this guy have even matter, when they knew for a fact that Wallace was in trouble? I'm thinking it was probably just filler to get the movie feature length, you know?

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  7. Michele,

    My wife and I watched Tusk just the other day. I really enjoyed it--thought it was both funny and disturbing. My wife was so disturbed by the image of Wallace/Walrus that we had to stay up watch sitcoms late into the night, because every time she closed her eyes, she saw it. I've long been a fan of Kevin Smith (Dogma being my personal favorite), and listen to episodes from his Smodcast podcast network almost literally every day (some shows he's involved in, others that he's not) and had heard the episode where he and Scott Mosier first hit upon the concept. I avoided any spoilers following that, after it became apparent that it was going to become a real movie, and was glad that I did.

    Michael Parks was amazing here, though I preferred the power of his role in Red State, where he could mesmerize and terrify simply through speaking. I'm a Depp fan (one of my favorite actors, though I don't care for all of his films), and didn't mind his role here. Smith's next film is Yoga Hosers, and the Depp character, I believe, returns. As do the two young convenience store clerks--Kevin Smith's and Johnny Depp's teenage daughters.

    Glad you got some enjoyment out of the film. Always enjoy your reviews!

    --J/Metro

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    1. Thanks, Jonny! That's kinda funny about your wife, sorry if that sounds mean! I guess it's just 'cause the movie had the opposite effect on me - whenever I thought about later on, I couldn't stop laughing!
      Oh man, Parks in Red State was so freaking good (so was John Goodman, don't forget him!!). I'm a Depp fan too, and actually really like all of his recent quirky roles, like this one. The whole diner scene was pretty hilarious, actually.

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  8. This sounds like a parody of The Human Centipede. Do you know if that was intentional?

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    1. It does sort of sound like that, but I don't think it was necessarily intentional. Seems like it was mostly an in-joke among Smith and his friends and fans.

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