National Lampoon's Cattle Call

For as long as film has existed as a medium sex has been a part of the comedy. Back in the thirties Mae West would tempt men with an invitation to come up and see her sometime. Later on Rock Hudson and Doris Day would dance around the idea of sex even if nothing was ever explicitly shown. Now there is a whole new genre of comedies that move beyond the tongue in cheek films of the past. In fact the tongue is often firmly in someone’s cheek, mouth, throat among other places. These sex romp comedies are a standard item for high school and college guys. If a film has the words ‘National Lampoon’ in the title it is almost certain that it is this ilk of raunchy flick. The formula is simple but effective considering the target demographic. Take a horny guy and a bunch of loser friends and find some way for them to get close to beautiful young women. If all goes right, and it usually does in these flicks, the young women in question will be devoid of any sense of modesty. Of course the one woman that the young man really is attracted to is not so free and easy. He then spends the rest of the movie trying to prove to her that he is more than just another horny guy. As far as these films goes this one is not all that bad. You just have to remember the group it is targeted for and try to fit your mind set into that group. So if your high school and college days are long gone just invite a group of friends over order some pizza and have a few beers. Just remember to wait until the wife is visiting relatives.

The film is written and directed by Martin Guigui. He has a few flicks under his belt as directors mostly more sedate comedies and one previous writing credit; one of the aforementioned comedies he directed. He is a multi talented man who has also worked as a musical composer and producer. These are credits and experience far beyond the normal for a National Lampoon flick. The result is a better than average movie then the genre usually produces. It is well written with a cohesive story that is funny to watch. The characters are for the most part well fleshed out and developed. That is except for some of the female parts in movie. They are fleshed out in a different and much expected fashion. Their main role is to jiggle and bounce through their scenes. The main character is intrinsically out to get some, so to speak. Still, he has some genuine human qualities that allow the audience to truly empathize with him. The thing is with this type of flick any plot at all tends to place the movie above the rest. For his direction Guigui keeps things moving. He dives right into establishing the premise and runs with it. There is an element of slapstick here but in this case it does fit right in. There is plenty of sexually oriented humor but I didn’t notice an overuse of scatological jokes so common in these flicks. The main thing about Guigui’s work here is he doesn’t have pretensions of grandeur. He knows that this is a raunchy flick, embraces the fact and goes with it. His direction is straight forward and well defined.

The film centers on a typical guy, Richie Rey (Thomas Ian Nicholas). As the film opens Richie is online checking out the dating web sites by watching videos of young women. Most of their online videos scream out warnings signs to Richie. One girl was proud of being sober for the last six hours, another has a lot of cats and one seems to revel in the misfortune that befalls ex boyfriends. Others are almost too wild. One is a professional boy painter who basically roles around naked in paint all day. Another likes a lot of sex. Even if these women seem perfect by a young man’s standards there was just something crazy about them. After he is done surfing the net his best friend, Sherman Oaks (Andrew Katos) calls to tell him about a place where he just met a hot woman. Yes, his name is Sherman Oaks, as mention this film doesn’t even try to take itself seriously. Several characters have names that are famous California locations just as a little amusing game Guigui plays with the audience. Sherman’s sister works for a talent casting service and while waiting for her he found a pile of head shots. Sherman looks through the pile and comes across one with credits working for Playboy and calls her up. He calls the girl up and tells her that even though she was rejected by the agency he wanted to cast her in his music video. Of course there is no such video. This may come as a shock to many in the audience but men will lie to women to get them into bed, really. While Richie is trying to talk Sherman out of the plan Sherman realizes the potential to take the concept and expand it. Richie hopes to find Miss Right, Sherman is more interested in Miss Right Now. Sherman assures Richie that when the girl really gets to know him the initial deception will not matter. A little note to the guys out there, it never works that way, never. They need an office space so Sherman calls their friend Glenn (Diedrich Bader). He is like a big kid complete with toy army men all over his room and a Lego phone. He is the go to guy to rent some cheap office space for their phony casting service. As they go through the pile of head shots one catches Richie’s eye, Marina Del (Jenny Mollen). Sherman is more in line for someone like Laurel Canyon (Nicole Eggert) who has her measurements right on the front of the head shot. Once they find out this is a weightlifter and mechanic Sherman passes but Glenn places her photo on the side. He even places it on his pillow at night. One of the first girls they call is Holly Hill (Suzan Brittan), not to be confused with a later girl they ‘audition’ named Beverly Will (Sandra Vidal) or Tarzana (Ana Guigui). The chance to break into movies is so attractive to these women that they start coming in. Soon the three guys have a line of women around the block. Naturally it turns out that Marina is a nice girl just looking for a break in her career. As Richie gets to know her he feels bad about the deception.

The film is different from other members of the genre. One thing that works very well is all the little vignettes that the guys shoot of the women. They are able to ask the some of he most intimate questions and get outrageous answers. Many of the girls are proud of their sexual abilities hoping it will get them the part. As the relationships start to deepen the difference between the guys becomes more obvious. Sherman just wants a good time and chooses his women on breast size and sexual exploits. Glenn is infatuated only with Ms. Canyon while Richie begins to fall for Marina. All of the actors here do a great job with their roles even the one dimensional ones.

The film is out on DVD thanks to Lion’s Gate. They do come up with the quirky little films and this is a prime example. You might see the well formed female butt on the cover and the National Lampoon logo and figure it is just another trashy film. Don’t judge a DVD by its cover, this one is funny and enjoyable.

Posted 03/19/08