Skip to main content

The Greatest Movie Ever Rolled

By

2012
Directed By Ryan Polito



The Greatest Movie ever rolled is Doug Bensons follow up to his 2007 documentary Super High Me. Both films have titles inspired/lifted from Morgan Spurlock documentaries, Greatest Movie Ever Sold and Super-Size Me.  While Super High Me took the concept of Super-Size Me and replaced McDonalds with marijuana, Greatest Movie Ever Rolled takes the concept of Greatest Movie Ever Sold and replaces corporate sponsorship with a stand up tour… sort of. This is really just a film about life on the road with Doug Benson and Graham Elwood.
This is not a sober examination of the isolation and depression that make up the life of a road comic and despite the title this is not a stoner movie either.  GMER is a lean 80 minutes of hilarious interaction between Doug and Graham. The movie shows our protagonists trying to sell tickets, getting high with fans, traveling from gig to gig and promoting a show on morning television; more or less what you would expect to see in a movie that chronicles Doug Benson’s life on the road. The thing that makes this film unique and worthy of your time is how naturally funny Doug and Graham are with one another. They have great chemistry and are clearly close friends outside this tour.
While the film appears to have been shot on DSLR and GoPro cameras it looks just fine. I’m not sure how many people who are watching this movie would have enjoyed it more if it had a more cinematic feel but I really enjoyed the guerilla style filmmaking that allowed for improvised moments and an overall feeling of authenticity. It’s not glossy but neither are its subjects. The only reason I mention this is because I’ve seen a couple of reviews that took the time to mention that the film looked cheap or unprofessional. So, in response, I wanted to take a moment to say the look of this film in no way lessens the experience and in fact I would argue that it adds to the film.
Doug Benson and Graham Elwood are both touring comics who host successful podcasts that focus on movies. Doug Loves Movies is a movie trivia show while Grahams Comedy Film Nerds is more of a movie review/news show.  These are two men who have a deep appreciation of film and it shows throughout. I would highly recommend this documentary to anyone with an interest in stand-up comedy.


Greatest Movie Ever Rolled is currently streaming on Netflix


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Internet Trolls and Critics in the Age of Rotten Tomatoes - A Look at the Critical Response to GOTTI

By
Hate, intolerance, and cruelty are the most valued currencies in the digital age. Online publications deal in the same eye-catching tabloid headlines that were once exclusive to rags like WEEKLY WORLD NEWS and the NATIONAL ENQUIRER. The monetization of clicks is ruining many forms of journalism and film criticism is just one of them. When organizations can see what headlines are generating revenue its only natural that sensationalism would start to rise. There is no consorted hivemind like conspiracy to destroy certain films but rather internet activity that has boosted a certain type of writer. From the outside, online film critics share quite a bit with their Twitter troll counterparts.

The critical response to John Travolta's passion project Gotti has been less than favorable, in fact, it has been downright abysmal. A project over ten years in the making, Travolta has poured his heart and soul into this venture. And many writers seem to take pleasure in the film's failure.

I…
1 comment
Read More >>

NO ALTERNATIVE review

By
Depression is often marked by sadness, despair, and hopelessness. The sense that things will not get better is something most of us pass through at different points in our lives. But depression is something more than that. It’s not just a temporary feeling, it’s a debilitating emotional state that you can’t simply pull yourself out of. The angry outbursts, irritability, and frustration that come along with depression can isolate individuals suffering from this condition and push them deeper into their own thoughts. Everyone needs to be heard and sometimes those who can’t express themselves in traditional forms find their voice in art.
Edvard Munch wrestled with agoraphobia and frequently had hallucinations, one of which inspired THE SCREAM, a painting so iconic that even the most casual art enthusiast is familiar with the piece.  Sylvia Plath took a more direct approach with THE BELL JAR and laid out the details of her depression with brutal honesty. Briana Dickerson a white suburba…
Post a Comment
Read More >>

THE True Bromance Film Podcast - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

By
Episode 208 - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

We like to keep up with the latest and greatest in the film universe so for this episode we're dialing up Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. In a world where superhero films saturate the market, can an animated feature distinguish itself from the pack?

MOVIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK:

A Fistful of Dollars, The Favourite, Skyscraper, The Meg, RBG, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Searching, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse


Post a Comment
Read More >>