Generally, we are mistrustful of Rotten Tomatoes rankings. Much better in our view to see a film that one-third of critics loved and two-thirds of them hated than one that nearly all of them thought was just OK. Life is better that way!
But still, even though they can be oddly fetishized sometimes, a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes tends to mean something! Which is why it is both hilarious and appropriate that this weekend’s “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star” received a perfect “0% fresh” rating. Yes, that’s right: Nobody who was paid to see “Bucky Larson” enjoyed the experience.
(Few people who paid to see it apparently enjoyed it either; the film opened in 15th place and will likely go down as one of the biggest flops of the year. We like Nick Swardson generally, but who thought that audiences would flock to a film about a grotesque man-child who ejaculates all over the place?)
The most positive review came from the Boston Globe’s Tom Russell, who had this peculiar complaint:
Never thought we’d say this about a movie, but “Bucky Larson’’ probably
doesn’t wring as much out of recurring bodily-fluid gags as it could.
That’s almost a good review! Unfortunately, the rest of them — literally every one — were worse.
From Entertainment Weekly:
Bucky Larson is a one-note joke played over and over and over.
From the Orlando Sentinel:
It’s an ugly movie to look at and a faintly nauseating one to sit through, truth be told.
From Variety:
One of the most astonishingly unfunny films of this or any other year.
And from the New York Times:
This may be the worst movie Pauly Shore has ever been in. Think about that.
But, to end things on a nice note: In the rare event that the film turns it around, finds a second life on DVD and gets a sequel commissioned, the team behind the film should look to this Splitsider article for ways to improve it. It’s got some good suggestions!
