Pauly Shore is Dead (2003/2004)
Parody is often a genre in films,
but its is rare when we get a film that is a self-parody.
"Pauly Shore is Dead" is such a film. In his first
feature film in several years, the ubiquitous, titular
80's personality, star of MTV, a Fox sitcom and a
handful of increasingly less and less funny films,
offers us a vision of the "15 minutes of fame" rule
run amuck.
Here, the plot is pretty basic:
Shore, unable to get a gig when his 15 minutes are
up, fakes his own death, gains fame as a "comic genius
who died before his time," is discovered to be a faker,
and is sent to prison for defrauding the public. In
prison, Shore shares his cell with Todd Bridges and
discovers how to handle his public persona and accept
his has-been status as a celebrity. ("You'll always
be Willis.")
But Shore spends a lot of time setting
up his story and we get to see lots of cool flashbacks
of his career, including his work on MTV, Fox, and
on stage as a young stand-up comic. It's a nice overview
of his career that serves as much as exposition as
it does as a sort of "E! True Hollywood Story." And
while the film can get a little repetitive at times,
it never really gets boring.
The film is mainly so hilarious
due to it's numerous cameos. Ben Stiller, Bill Maher,
Ellen Degeneres, and plethora of others comment on
Shore here in hilarious terms. And in addition to
Bridges spoofing his own real life story, we get moments
of guffaw-inducing self-parody with Rico Suave (Gerardo),
Tommy Lee, and a hilarious turn from Carrot Top. It's
amazing how many B-list celebrities are willing to
play along with Shore here and it makes the film often
laugh out loud funny.
But "Pauly Shore is Dead" works
best for the same reason Shore's appearances in the
80's worked. It's just too damn easy to like him.
Regardless of his goofball persona, Shore has always
seemed to be honest and good-hearted young man. His
homage to his late friend and mentor Sam Kinison in
this film reminds us of just how important comedy
can be in all of our lives, especially when it's laced
with genuine warmth and affection.
Notes:
Also with Chris Rock, Fred Durst,
Sean Penn, Tom Sizemore, Whoopi, Heidi Fleiss, Kurt
Loder, Pamela Anderson, A.J. Benza, Tommy Chong, Dustin
Diamond, Andy Dick, Rick Ducommun, Perry Farrell,
Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Hanson, Clint Howard,
Kato Kaelin, Michael Madsen, Mark McGrath, Jason Mewes,
Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Montel Williams,
Vince Vaughn and Verne Troyer.
The film was also known as "You'll
Never Weiz in This Town Again."
The film won the audience award
at Slamdunk in Park City in 2003.
The film played SXSW in 2003 with
Shore in attendance but there was only one sold out
show and I couldn't get in. The film played in October,
2004, at the Alamo Drafthouse and Shore attended some
screenings but not the one I went to.
Viewed in October, 2004, at the
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown with my friend Johnny Oh!
The presentation was on video. After the screening
we went to Sidekicks and hung out with our favorite
bartender, Robert, even though it was Hip-Hop night.
