If there is a genre that you can always rely on making a premiere at SXSW it would be Stoner Comedies. This year’s festival was no exception as it was filled with several entries such as Cornbread Mafia, I Love Boosters, The Shitheads and Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney’s directorial debut, Pizza Movie. A film that is gloriously stupid and relentlessly fun as the film takes an incredibly simple premise and turns into a chaotically ridiculous romp.
A shy college student named Montgomery (Sean Giambrone, The Goldbergs) and his reckless roommate, Jack (Gaten Matarazzo, Stranger Things) set out on a simple mission, to grab some delicious pizza for their Friday night. However, after taking a dose of a mind-bending experimental drug, they are thrusted into a chaotic night of absurd encounters, wild hallucinations, and unexpected revelations that could change their lives forever.
Even if stoner comedies are not your cup of tea, there is something undeniably admirable about how much Pizza Movie throws itself into its own absurdity. It doesn’t just flirt with the chaos, the film is the chaos. With our two characters being as sober as a judge, their trip hits even harder as they are not accustomed to warped reality and transformations of psychedelics. The result is a psychedelic odyssey that pushes them into an explosive, surreal and totally off the rails high.
The film cycles through increasingly bizarre scenarios with reckless enthusiasm. One minute they are trapped in the bodies of talking puppets, the next they are watching their own heads detonate or they are dealing with full-on body-swap madness. And when they are in between trips, they are having to deal with over-bearing RAs who are trying to get them expelled. With each scenario being more insane than the last, Pizza Movie becomes a rollercoaster of a trip gone bad. Sure, in between the trips Pizza Movie does try to comment about friendships and the growing responsibilities of being in college, and it doesn’t really land. But it still doesn’t take away how fun this film is.
In the end, everyone involved with Pizza Movie knows exactly what kind of film this is and never pretends to be anything more. It’s messy, excessive and profoundly juvenile. Yet, underneath that chaos, there is a sense of control that prevents this film from totally going off the rail. Sure not every gag lands and the absurdity of the film can become exhausting at points, but when the film hits, it’s a fun romp that is surprisingly inventive. It’s the kind of movie that doesn’t ask for your approval. It’s a film that dares you to keep up with it and if you are willing to sit with some friends and eat some pizza, it’s a fun ride for everyone involved.
My Rating: B
Pizza Movie premiers on Hulu and Disney+ April 3rd.
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