By Isaiah Smith/entertainment editor
Every suburban biker’s dream comes true in Wild Hogs when four friends get in touch with their inner-gang mentality. Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy and John Travolta star in Wild Hogs, an uproarious comedy taking jabs at the mid-life crises of four friends.
The movie centers on the quartet, each member having his own reasons for wanting to get far away from home.
Doug, played by Allen, is a dentist who fears he has become too boring. His son does not care when he gets home, and his wife has cut all meat out of his diet because of high cholesterol.
Dudley, played by Macy, is a bumbling, single computer analyst afraid of women; he tries his hardest to be cool but just can’t seem to pull it off.
Lawrence plays Bobby, a plumber with an over-bearing wife who loves to tell him what to do. He has taken a year off from his job to write a book, but that year is up and his wife sends him back to the real world.
Travolta’s character Woody has it all: dream job, super-model wife, big house. But his perfect life comes crashing down when his wife leaves him and takes everything.
The last bastion of joy these four friends have is their suburban-biker gang, the Wild Hogs. Deciding he has had enough of their cooped up lives, Woody demands a road-trip.
These four actors play off each other brilliantly. I laughed from beginning to end. It’s no wonder Wild Hogs skyrocketed to No. 1 its opening weekend.
This is a slice of everyday life for men across the country, merely existing while they crave freedom and the open road. These guys take their mid-life crisis and run with it, driving toward the Pacific with no plans, no cell phones and no rules.
However, as most suburban bikers realize eventually, real bikers don’t like them, and the group ends up at odds with the Del Fuegos, a true biker gang with no sense of humor.
Wild Hogs is full of situational comedy that’s fun for almost the whole family. I saw a few families with children under the age of 10 leave during the film because of sexually based jokes. So you might want to leave the kiddies at home if your family has finer sensibilities than some.
This film is just plain funny. There is no deeper meaning, no social commentary and shockingly enough no politics. It is refreshing to get a comedy that does what it is meant to do—entertain.
The theaters are devoid of quality comedy films at the moment, so this is the perfect movie to pick to just relax and enjoy on nothing other than its humor.
Wild Hogs is a laugh-riot with the whole crowd laughing throughout. I give it four stars. This movie isn’t going to change anyone’s life or shine a spotlight on some little-known problem in society, but it will make you laugh.
