A Futile and Stupid Gesture

2018, 720p except the uncredited clip

This is a brand-new biopic about the late Doug Kenney, co-founder of the National Lampoon (with Henry Beard), co-author of Animal House and Caddyshack, and the guy who assembled the team that later created SNL (albeit without him). As a big fan of all of those things, I have written many times about Doug, his massive talent, his massive intellect, and his troubled soul.

The low-budget made-for-Netflix film does a pretty good job at telling his story in a format that, while clumsy and cheap-looking, incorporates a lot of the humor from that crowd, and does a pretty decent job in portraying how the Lampoon's seemingly mismatched co-founders first bonded, then became best friends and business partners, then drifted apart.

That foreground story is new to most people, but everyone will recognize the familiar characters that wander through the background. The hot-tempered Mr. Mike and the goofy Chevy Chase had big roles in Doug's life, and thus are major characters in the film. Also portrayed in smaller roles are Gilda, Lorne Michaels, Belushi, Bill Murray and all the others who worked with them. Jon Daly, the guy who plays Murray, does an especially great job in a small role by pulling off a scene-stealing riff on the set of Caddyshack. That riff is in a drug-induced fantasy sequence, but you can easily imagine Murray doing and saying everything there, and you may even hear Murray's voice if you close your eyes.

The title, as many of you undoubtedly know, is a famous line from Animal House.

Elvy Yost did some nudity as the woman in the Lampoon's Foto Funnies.

Lauryn Morse recreated the pantyless cheerleader on the cover of the Lampoon's famous High School Yearbook parody.

An uncredited actress recreated the famous scene in Animal House when Belushi acts as a Peeping Tom to get a look at Mary Louise Weller's breasts. No preview. I don't have this one in HD yet.

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