June 4, 2010 - Idiocracy

Tonight's movie was interesting, but could have been brilliant if done differently.

(82) Idiocracy (2006): So, dude played by Luke Wilson, Joe, is a very average citizen -- and Army soldier -- in the present day. The Army taps him for a project that will put him to sleep for a year. That year, as you can probably guess, works out to be something closer to 500 years. When this Average "Joe" wakes up 500 years hence, the world is a much different, much dumber place. So much so that Joe is actually now the smartest guy on the planet.

This film could have really worked if the future world wasn't portrayed in such an over-the-top, absurd way. The film actually started great, talking about how the rich and successful limit their breeding to smaller broods, and later in life. It was also pointed out how the poor and seemingly stupid have much larger broods and start out earlier in life. Had they build on that clever intro and kept the movie out of Dumbville, it would have been infinitely better. I never wanted to kill Dax Shepherd so much in my life!

Can't really recommend this film. Catch it if you're drunk or stoned one night; just don't blame me if you want to kill Dax Shepherd.

1 Star