At the risk of piling on, today we need to recognize the rare cultural milestone achieved by Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star. No, not its approval from a leader in the porn community, and not its status as one of the biggest mainstream flops in years. Nope. The Adam Sandler-produced, Nick Swardson-starring comedy has managed that ever-rare zero-percent approval rating among the critics of Rotten Tomatoes.
Just when we thought The Undefeated was going to have a nice, long term as the site's reigning stinker and Waiting For Forever might pull it out as the year's most roundly loathed narrative film, along comes Bucky to change all that. Its ignominy grew into sharper relief over the weekend, as critics like our own Alison Willmore filed their reactions from public screenings (Sony declined to pre-screen the film) around the country. And wow did people hate this movie:
· "There are movie atrocities, there are I-just-don't-get-it comedies and then there's Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star. This god-awful, unfunny, stinkingly putrid sketch-comic movie has exactly one snicker-worthy moment, involving Kevin Nealon and a stolen grape. [...] That snicker is the loneliest sound throughout all of Bucky Larson, which stands alone as the most moronic comedy in ages." -- Joe Neumaier, NY Daily News
· "This is cinema only insofar as Taco Bell can be called a healthy snack, cobbled together with broken parts from Hollywood's junk drawer and enough song cues and big names (Don Johnson, sadly par for the course in his post-Miami Vice career) to create the illusion of entertainment. If you're of the opinion that Napoleon Dynamite wasn't cruel enough to its characters, Bucky Larson's for you. You may or may not laugh, but at least you'll be closer to death and no better for it." --Rob Humanick, Slant
· "It occurs to me that Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star may have been made [...] to console every actor who has ever been in a movie that is a little less bad than this one. Let me put the matter another way: this may be the worst movie Pauly Shore has ever been in. Think about that. If you dare, go on Netflix and test the hypothesis." -- A.O. Scott, The New York Times
Ouch. At least there's always a DVD pullquote from Joanna Angel. We did what we could, Sony.
· Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star [Rotten Tomatoes]