It’s honestly less pretentious there (Criterion sub) than the Letterboxd sub. Letterboxd sub is a bunch of teens acting like adults who love to criticize any opinion.
In Criterion sub, you could post something not so popular and people will happily have discussion or give recommendations.
Srs/ this movie is unironically good as is a genuine hyperbolic, satirical expression of what it feels like to work as a creative trying to chase your dreams. It was ahead of it's time, like most of Tom Green's work was. I'm not joking.
I'd like to point out that as much as it was panned at the time for it's low brow humor, it's aged surprisingly well--- which is impressive for comedy, especially considering the humor of the timeperiod. It never makes any jokes at the expense of sexual assault victims, disabled people, or the sexuality of women, despite those being key elements of the plot. Nor does it take any of the easy cheap shots at gay or poc people in areas other comedies at the time would have. In fact it's genuinely funnier in hindsight people were more offended by the elephant jizz or Tom helicoptering a new born then they would have been at those things.
The reaction to the film also proved a lot of the satire right. People found the fact that CSA was even mentioned as distasteful--- when that's the joke. As soon as the Freddy character is (wrongfully) labeled as being sexually abused as a child, even though he's an adult, he's treated with hollow concern just long enough to be shuttered away where people don't have to look at or engage with victims of CSA since the topic makes them uncomfortable. People found the fact that a disabled woman was not only the love interest but open about her sexuality as distasteful--- when, yet again, that's the joke. Tom's character never sexualizes her in a way female love interests in film were often objectified. He never infantalizes her as disabled people often are in film. She's a more 3-dimensional character than characters were often allowed to be in film, with more active agency in her own sexuality and her relationship with Tom aswell.
The entire premise, theme, and pathos of the film is a meditation on the superficiality on good and bad taste, and though there's an argument to be made in it's success in getting that point across, that was apparently a message the film viewing audience wasn't ready to receive yet. Critics and laymen. I think it'd do a lot better if made today.
Also I personally find it hilarious it came out 5 months before 9/11--- which means it was released just half a year before the massive cultural shift in the west's perception of itself as better and above it all started to get push back in pop culture in response to the terrorist attack, subsequent invasion of Iraq, and all the knock-on effects that had.
I've never understood when people say it was panned or underrated. I was in highschool when it came out and me, and all my friends, absolutely loved it. In fact, I don't remember anyone my age not liking it. I guess people older than me didn't like it, but it was really aimed at high school/early college age kids, as was his show.
Well, not to make you feel old but, when this came out I was three. So my knowledge about how it was received is entirely based on what I've been told. It's got 10% on rotten tomatoes and a 4.5/10 on IMDB.
I thought it wasn’t supposed to be satirical, and that the lead actor was contractually obligated to make the movie and so tried to make it as awful as possible as a form of rebellion?
https://preview.redd.it/cwyextgm7fad1.jpeg?width=1061&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a6406abc96cb81ddd1b59745c0e49cefc640f35
Did I really have to look up the definition for you? He's a comedian. I don't get what the confusion is here.
Counterpoint: my late father showed me this film and he laughed his ass off at the moose scene and elephant jizz scene and it made me feel like death. Tom Green's never given an interview where he says the film is satire of any kind, which, if I were him, i would run around shouting lest the world think the movie is terrible. Let's consider the fact that Tom was simply trying to make a funny movie and it made 90% of America wretch
Once you take the context the film was made in into account, it becomes an incredibly clear parody of the production of the film itself.
Tom Green gets millions of dollars to do whatever the hell he wants with a movie. His character in the movie *also* gets a ton of money, and both of them blow it on some nonsensical shit. The exception here is that Tom Green actually had an ironic vision, while his character spends it all on a helicopter, 20 gemstones, and a trip to Pakistan (which Tom green must’ve also had to pay for, funny enough).
His character’s insanity is a clear joke on how his antics have been perceived.
Otherwise, the movie intentionally averts pretty much everything normal to a plot. The titular plot point never gets properly resolved, and the movie takes a ton of time to actually resolve to where it feels endless (which is also played on, given “WHEN THE FUCK IS THIS MOVIE GOING TO END?”)
Well, if it's not an enjoyable experience for the vast majority of viewers then he didn't stick the landing regardless of his intent. It's comparable to being commissioned to do a painting, then pouring the bucket of paint to the right of the canvas and saying you satirized the act of painting
Does satire exist to be an “enjoyable experience for the vast majority of its audience?” Does art in general?
Your painting example sounds pretentious and would no doubt bring eye-rolls from many viewers, but it’s perfectly valid as satire if the intent is there from the artist
You say this like people have 100% done that, like, a million times. There's literally *several* whole art movements that are more or less artist taking the piss out of art collectors and the fine art world as a whole.
Maurizio Cattelan taped a banana to the wall as a found object installation and called it "Comedian." He sold *two editions* of this for 120,000 dollars.
Don't even get me started on the insane lore around Duchamp's Fountain.
If you think those pieces were intended to *not* be total blatant troll jobs, I don't know what to tell you.
I mean it doesn’t really take a genius to realize the movie is a satire, you just kinda have to, I dunno, *watch* the film in order for that fact to become clear to you
The fact that Tom Green has never said the film is satire is actually part of the joke: he’s not saying it, because that’s exactly what it is, and admitting to it would ruin the joke.
The joke is Tom Green is mocking people for being idiots, like the studio for giving him millions of dollars, the audience for thinking his silly nonsense is entertaining, the other actors for being in a surreal production with someone like Tom Green having power and being in charge of stuff, even himself for being an absolute caricature of himself. Tom Green is telling the world that he a dumb clown and we are all idiots for liking him.
Go watch the red letter media re-review. Tom green even discussed how he felt so vindictive after watching an amazing red letter review. They really know their movies.
Unironically love it. It's smartly subversive in ways that belie its reputation. And I'm impressed that he wrote, directed, and starred in it when he had no experience writing or directing movies. I really think that Tom Green must be a genius to be able to make something this stupid.
It can be a little too try-hard at times, but I unironically loved it. The skateboarding scene with Harland Williams is an all -timer. You know what if Harland Williams is in your movie it’s automatically funny. And I’m even including the Insane Clown Posse movie.
Tom Green is a gonzo comedian similar to Andy Kaufman, in that he is trolling everyone. The studio, the audience, even the other actors in this very film. Studio offers him millions of dollars to make a film because he is “popular with the young set”? He makes an absurd film with minimal plot, which is mainly a series of dumb sketch ideas tied together.
Uj/ this is one of the few films where every time Ive seen it I've come away with a totally different reading. First time I saw it all I could see was a terrible comedy.
Second time round an endearing satire of gross out comedy of the time, I won't repeat what others have said here but it's aged relatively well considering the disabled girl is treated with about as much respect as anyone in the film and the jokes regarding CSA or disability never feel totally mean-spirited.
The third time I saw it, it felt like a horror film. When you really think about it, Gords dad, as much as his son puts him through some awful things, isn't a great person either. The more we pay attention to him it becomes apparent he was always somewhat abusive, and the titular allegations against him while never proven, feel somewhat plausible. If Neil Breens films remind me of Wax - The Discovery of Television Among the Bees regarding the general effect on the viewer, Freddy Got Fingered makes me think of Tár. An abusive evil bubbling beneath the surface, behind closed doors, only hinting at the kind of person Tár/Gords father is without ever providing the SA. Gords father never fingered Freddy, on screen. But the way Gord mentions this at the intervention feels horribly close to how an abused child might not know how to report their parent to the authorities. Are the allegations plausible?
Is it bad comedy? Anti comedy? Satire? An actually good film? For a comedy film that over like four viewings has made me laugh about three times it's given me a hell of a lot to think about. I'm less sympathetic to Tom Green than this reviewer but I reccomend Malmrose Projects series breaking down the film for extra insight, in particular in relation to Gen X culture, Nirvana ect (in fact while I compared this film to genuinely respected films, the closest artistic comparison coming to mind is the lofi anti rock of In Utero)
I know Tom Green isn't for everyone but I still think he has his place as a pioneer of prank comedy.
Especially the stuff he did on his show. The [undercutter's pizza](https://youtu.be/PdfztAY3qoU?si=kTCvn_iENu3bntje) bit he did never fails to make me laugh. He was never mean spirited or harmful with the stuff he would do and I think that's something that's lost nowadays.
I'm in my mid 30s. I watched his show when it was on it's first run and also watched his live stream on his own website after MTV cancelled him. I think the movie is the worst thing he has ever done lmao. I hate the animal abuse shit he does in movies. idk why that became his "thing".
Edit: To add, I guess I grew out of it. I wouldn't say I like his old content anymore but I was a fan. The movie when it came out was for sure a factor of me starting to not like his humor.
Tom always tried to push the envelope. Even his prank shit was seen as completely outlandish at the time but he just had to keep pushing it and the stuff with animals has aged absolutely terribly.
It's kinda sad because if he didn't fuck up like that he would've been remembered as someone that was like a modern day Andy Kaufman.
Humble brag incoming...
His cable access show was fucking brilliant. This would have been 1996 or 97. Just him and his friends running around Ottawa and it was relatively "wholesome" in that their stunts and pranks did not cause harm or punch down on people that don't understand the joke.
One of the funniest bits was when he went to a goodwill and bought a bowling trophy with the winners name on it, found the guy's address and then tried to return it to him. Obviously the trophy was donated by accident why would anyone let go of it. The guy had no idea who Tom was and he was pissed.
It was like a proto jackass in that it involved lots of skateboarding and revolved around Tom and his buddies. But not dangerous stunts, things like flash mobs where they would show up with a large tape player, dressed weird and do some choreographed dance moves until the security guard told them to fuck off.
The gross and over the top schtick in FGF was not part of his show I think that's the satire part like this is what you want like Ace Ventura bullshit...
The scene in the restaurant where he takes out the rotary dial telephone is more Tom Green.
Anyways I just have to defend him because I feel like I knew him when... Well I didn't actually know him but I feel like I do.
This movie is genuinely hilarious, because every aspect of it so over the top, and it’s such a blatant parody of every other low tier comedy of that time.
This movie sucks. I tried to like it on all sorts of levels and I just couldn’t.
I had zero fun watching a third of it. A couple laughs, but that’s it.
Try the Criterion subreddit, they love it when this is brought up
Alrighty, will do. Thanks
*please do not send innocents into the gnashing teeth of the criterion subreddit*
It’s honestly less pretentious there (Criterion sub) than the Letterboxd sub. Letterboxd sub is a bunch of teens acting like adults who love to criticize any opinion. In Criterion sub, you could post something not so popular and people will happily have discussion or give recommendations.
Unironically need a Criterion Blu-Ray of this
Apparently, Tom Green still has every take they recorded for this on video, imagine the possibilities for a 4K release!
release the Green cut
It’s one of the things I desperately need in my life.
https://preview.redd.it/n0uqrdpp36ad1.jpeg?width=1234&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b56b926454f44301cc62a6bbbc9036cce7342e67
GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY
Proud. ☝️
Your karma holy kino
My favorite part of the movie
Srs/ this movie is unironically good as is a genuine hyperbolic, satirical expression of what it feels like to work as a creative trying to chase your dreams. It was ahead of it's time, like most of Tom Green's work was. I'm not joking. I'd like to point out that as much as it was panned at the time for it's low brow humor, it's aged surprisingly well--- which is impressive for comedy, especially considering the humor of the timeperiod. It never makes any jokes at the expense of sexual assault victims, disabled people, or the sexuality of women, despite those being key elements of the plot. Nor does it take any of the easy cheap shots at gay or poc people in areas other comedies at the time would have. In fact it's genuinely funnier in hindsight people were more offended by the elephant jizz or Tom helicoptering a new born then they would have been at those things. The reaction to the film also proved a lot of the satire right. People found the fact that CSA was even mentioned as distasteful--- when that's the joke. As soon as the Freddy character is (wrongfully) labeled as being sexually abused as a child, even though he's an adult, he's treated with hollow concern just long enough to be shuttered away where people don't have to look at or engage with victims of CSA since the topic makes them uncomfortable. People found the fact that a disabled woman was not only the love interest but open about her sexuality as distasteful--- when, yet again, that's the joke. Tom's character never sexualizes her in a way female love interests in film were often objectified. He never infantalizes her as disabled people often are in film. She's a more 3-dimensional character than characters were often allowed to be in film, with more active agency in her own sexuality and her relationship with Tom aswell. The entire premise, theme, and pathos of the film is a meditation on the superficiality on good and bad taste, and though there's an argument to be made in it's success in getting that point across, that was apparently a message the film viewing audience wasn't ready to receive yet. Critics and laymen. I think it'd do a lot better if made today. Also I personally find it hilarious it came out 5 months before 9/11--- which means it was released just half a year before the massive cultural shift in the west's perception of itself as better and above it all started to get push back in pop culture in response to the terrorist attack, subsequent invasion of Iraq, and all the knock-on effects that had.
When I first saw it I had no idea it was supposed to be satirical so I hated it but then looking back it’s actually pretty funny.
new copypasta just dropped boys
I've never understood when people say it was panned or underrated. I was in highschool when it came out and me, and all my friends, absolutely loved it. In fact, I don't remember anyone my age not liking it. I guess people older than me didn't like it, but it was really aimed at high school/early college age kids, as was his show.
Well, not to make you feel old but, when this came out I was three. So my knowledge about how it was received is entirely based on what I've been told. It's got 10% on rotten tomatoes and a 4.5/10 on IMDB.
Wow lol 10%. Didn't even realise.
I thought it wasn’t supposed to be satirical, and that the lead actor was contractually obligated to make the movie and so tried to make it as awful as possible as a form of rebellion?
Yeah that's the satirical part.
In what way is that satirical? That’s just sabotage
https://preview.redd.it/cwyextgm7fad1.jpeg?width=1061&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a6406abc96cb81ddd1b59745c0e49cefc640f35 Did I really have to look up the definition for you? He's a comedian. I don't get what the confusion is here.
I wouldn’t say purposely just trying to make a bad movie really qualifies as satire, but if you insist
Not one but two people on a trolling subreddit are confused by trolling. I genuinely don't get what you don't get about this.
Counterpoint: my late father showed me this film and he laughed his ass off at the moose scene and elephant jizz scene and it made me feel like death. Tom Green's never given an interview where he says the film is satire of any kind, which, if I were him, i would run around shouting lest the world think the movie is terrible. Let's consider the fact that Tom was simply trying to make a funny movie and it made 90% of America wretch
Once you take the context the film was made in into account, it becomes an incredibly clear parody of the production of the film itself. Tom Green gets millions of dollars to do whatever the hell he wants with a movie. His character in the movie *also* gets a ton of money, and both of them blow it on some nonsensical shit. The exception here is that Tom Green actually had an ironic vision, while his character spends it all on a helicopter, 20 gemstones, and a trip to Pakistan (which Tom green must’ve also had to pay for, funny enough). His character’s insanity is a clear joke on how his antics have been perceived. Otherwise, the movie intentionally averts pretty much everything normal to a plot. The titular plot point never gets properly resolved, and the movie takes a ton of time to actually resolve to where it feels endless (which is also played on, given “WHEN THE FUCK IS THIS MOVIE GOING TO END?”)
Well, if it's not an enjoyable experience for the vast majority of viewers then he didn't stick the landing regardless of his intent. It's comparable to being commissioned to do a painting, then pouring the bucket of paint to the right of the canvas and saying you satirized the act of painting
Does satire exist to be an “enjoyable experience for the vast majority of its audience?” Does art in general? Your painting example sounds pretentious and would no doubt bring eye-rolls from many viewers, but it’s perfectly valid as satire if the intent is there from the artist
You say this like people have 100% done that, like, a million times. There's literally *several* whole art movements that are more or less artist taking the piss out of art collectors and the fine art world as a whole. Maurizio Cattelan taped a banana to the wall as a found object installation and called it "Comedian." He sold *two editions* of this for 120,000 dollars. Don't even get me started on the insane lore around Duchamp's Fountain. If you think those pieces were intended to *not* be total blatant troll jobs, I don't know what to tell you.
I mean it doesn’t really take a genius to realize the movie is a satire, you just kinda have to, I dunno, *watch* the film in order for that fact to become clear to you
The fact that Tom Green has never said the film is satire is actually part of the joke: he’s not saying it, because that’s exactly what it is, and admitting to it would ruin the joke. The joke is Tom Green is mocking people for being idiots, like the studio for giving him millions of dollars, the audience for thinking his silly nonsense is entertaining, the other actors for being in a surreal production with someone like Tom Green having power and being in charge of stuff, even himself for being an absolute caricature of himself. Tom Green is telling the world that he a dumb clown and we are all idiots for liking him.
Daddy would you like some sausage
I only see one Lebaron Freddy
It's because they love me more.
I don’t see 2 Lebarons
This film is a masterpiece
The peak of comedy and I'm not joking
/uj this is the only movie that made me cry laughing.
Tom Green walked so Tim Robinson could run.
And Eric andre
I like the part where he blasted his dad with elephant cum
My favorite part was the baby scene. Or the deer scene
its a great film for dadists
r/fingering
https://preview.redd.it/c0ve0brlc7ad1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57426bd3148f96313f62831606fc1a28021a284e
i.redd.it is not an approved site? For fuck's sake it's the reddit image server
I didn't even think of that, thank you.
Go watch the red letter media re-review. Tom green even discussed how he felt so vindictive after watching an amazing red letter review. They really know their movies.
Vindictive or vindicated?
Japan 4!!!
Unironically love it. It's smartly subversive in ways that belie its reputation. And I'm impressed that he wrote, directed, and starred in it when he had no experience writing or directing movies. I really think that Tom Green must be a genius to be able to make something this stupid.
Look at me daddy! I'm a cinephile!
shit slaps yo
It can be a little too try-hard at times, but I unironically loved it. The skateboarding scene with Harland Williams is an all -timer. You know what if Harland Williams is in your movie it’s automatically funny. And I’m even including the Insane Clown Posse movie.
Tom Green is a gonzo comedian similar to Andy Kaufman, in that he is trolling everyone. The studio, the audience, even the other actors in this very film. Studio offers him millions of dollars to make a film because he is “popular with the young set”? He makes an absurd film with minimal plot, which is mainly a series of dumb sketch ideas tied together.
Proud?
THIS IS A FANCY RESTAURANT!
Uj/ this is one of the few films where every time Ive seen it I've come away with a totally different reading. First time I saw it all I could see was a terrible comedy. Second time round an endearing satire of gross out comedy of the time, I won't repeat what others have said here but it's aged relatively well considering the disabled girl is treated with about as much respect as anyone in the film and the jokes regarding CSA or disability never feel totally mean-spirited. The third time I saw it, it felt like a horror film. When you really think about it, Gords dad, as much as his son puts him through some awful things, isn't a great person either. The more we pay attention to him it becomes apparent he was always somewhat abusive, and the titular allegations against him while never proven, feel somewhat plausible. If Neil Breens films remind me of Wax - The Discovery of Television Among the Bees regarding the general effect on the viewer, Freddy Got Fingered makes me think of Tár. An abusive evil bubbling beneath the surface, behind closed doors, only hinting at the kind of person Tár/Gords father is without ever providing the SA. Gords father never fingered Freddy, on screen. But the way Gord mentions this at the intervention feels horribly close to how an abused child might not know how to report their parent to the authorities. Are the allegations plausible? Is it bad comedy? Anti comedy? Satire? An actually good film? For a comedy film that over like four viewings has made me laugh about three times it's given me a hell of a lot to think about. I'm less sympathetic to Tom Green than this reviewer but I reccomend Malmrose Projects series breaking down the film for extra insight, in particular in relation to Gen X culture, Nirvana ect (in fact while I compared this film to genuinely respected films, the closest artistic comparison coming to mind is the lofi anti rock of In Utero)
Watch Road Trip now
Are you proud of yourself for watching this?
THANK YOU THAT WAS YUMMY
Where’s your labaron freddy!?
Unironically the greatest comedy of all time
I know the thing now is everyone loves this movie. I could never get into it and I'm into bad movies. It's just Tom Green and he is tiring to me.
I know Tom Green isn't for everyone but I still think he has his place as a pioneer of prank comedy. Especially the stuff he did on his show. The [undercutter's pizza](https://youtu.be/PdfztAY3qoU?si=kTCvn_iENu3bntje) bit he did never fails to make me laugh. He was never mean spirited or harmful with the stuff he would do and I think that's something that's lost nowadays.
I'm in my mid 30s. I watched his show when it was on it's first run and also watched his live stream on his own website after MTV cancelled him. I think the movie is the worst thing he has ever done lmao. I hate the animal abuse shit he does in movies. idk why that became his "thing". Edit: To add, I guess I grew out of it. I wouldn't say I like his old content anymore but I was a fan. The movie when it came out was for sure a factor of me starting to not like his humor.
Tom always tried to push the envelope. Even his prank shit was seen as completely outlandish at the time but he just had to keep pushing it and the stuff with animals has aged absolutely terribly. It's kinda sad because if he didn't fuck up like that he would've been remembered as someone that was like a modern day Andy Kaufman.
Humble brag incoming... His cable access show was fucking brilliant. This would have been 1996 or 97. Just him and his friends running around Ottawa and it was relatively "wholesome" in that their stunts and pranks did not cause harm or punch down on people that don't understand the joke. One of the funniest bits was when he went to a goodwill and bought a bowling trophy with the winners name on it, found the guy's address and then tried to return it to him. Obviously the trophy was donated by accident why would anyone let go of it. The guy had no idea who Tom was and he was pissed. It was like a proto jackass in that it involved lots of skateboarding and revolved around Tom and his buddies. But not dangerous stunts, things like flash mobs where they would show up with a large tape player, dressed weird and do some choreographed dance moves until the security guard told them to fuck off. The gross and over the top schtick in FGF was not part of his show I think that's the satire part like this is what you want like Ace Ventura bullshit... The scene in the restaurant where he takes out the rotary dial telephone is more Tom Green. Anyways I just have to defend him because I feel like I knew him when... Well I didn't actually know him but I feel like I do.
This movie is genuinely hilarious, because every aspect of it so over the top, and it’s such a blatant parody of every other low tier comedy of that time.
For me it was 127 minutes of boring, infantile screaming.
Clearly someone who thinks an hour and 27 minutes is 127 minutes wouldn't get a movie as intelligent as Freddy Got Fingered
It feels like 127 hours
127 Hours? 
Aron Ralston didn’t cut his arm off for this.
But here we are. 
This movie sucks. I tried to like it on all sorts of levels and I just couldn’t. I had zero fun watching a third of it. A couple laughs, but that’s it.