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Thursday, March 23, 2017

Mad Families 2017 * Star

Mad FamiliesDirector: Fred Wolf
Year: 2017
Rated NR
Rating: * Star
Cast: Charlie Sheen, Leah Remini, Naya Rivera

I met Clint Howard in South Bend, Indiana during a film festival. It was three years ago. He's a nice guy. Therefore, I wish I could go back in time to tell him not to appear in 2017's Mad Families (my latest review).

So OK, what do you get when you put Charlie Sheen, Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite, Howard, Leah Remini, Barry Shabaka Henley, and Chris Mulkey in a quasi-movie together? Well, you get the weirdest casting combo since 2004's Wild Hogs. You also get one of the most annoying films this side of last year's Undrafted. I ranked Undrafted the worst piece of cinematic crap via 2016. It's only March but Mad Families might take 2017's Razzie prize come December.

Oh I almost forgot, Dennis Quaid is sadly featured in a cameo during the ninety minute running time of "Families" (seventy-five if you take out the commercials and end credits). He plays a park ranger who slurps rum and watches porn. I'm gonna have to watch him in Breaking Away just to get those images out of my head. Ugh.

Image result for mad families movie scenesAnyway, "Families" is about three families comprised of African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians. They have similar last names and because of a computer error, they all book the same camp site on a hot Fourth of July weekend. These socially inept weirdos have a competition and whoever wins said competition, gets to stay and take in the leafy wilderness at Site 16. IMDb doesn't indicate where the proceedings were shot but hey, who cares. Oh and "Families" doesn't have an MPAA rating but I'll go with a hard PG-13. Again, who cares.

Cultural tensions, ratings, and sparkler holidays aside, Mad Families is a so-called comedy about race and it feels really dated. Characters bicker, fight aimlessly, tell jokes, and project themselves as total buffoons. I wanted to slap these hackneyed characters and the actors who play them. Are these troupers appearing in Mad Families strictly for the paycheck? Maybe. Are they embarrassing themselves regardless? Yup.

What's worse is that this flick's production company (Crackle), appears on screen via the lower right-hand corner throughout. I don't think I've ever seen that in a movie before. Pretty lame and tacky if you ask me. Bottom line: "Families" as an Internet release, should've never been made. David Spade co-wrote the script and you wish that he would just go back to being on the canceled sitcom, Rules of Engagement. Nevertheless, my rating is one star only because I don't give zero stars to anything. After all, making a film is hard work even if it sucks as much as this drivel.

Written by Jesse Burleson

1 comment:

  1. "Uncomfortable" for 90 minutes and I can't remember laughing one time. If this was released as a comedy then someone totally missed the mark. Its like swallowing bad milk, you need something to wash the taste out . I need something to wash this out of my mind.

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