Garcia directs Meat Machine with a penchant for extreme close-ups and zany humor. The film knows exactly what it is and does not care if it offends you. And therein lies its charm. From the cheap visual effects to the cardboard sets, nothing here is meant to be taken seriously. The filmmaker embraces this cheap aesthetic, which allows all watching to buy into it as well. There are some great visual gags that solely work because the production goes all in on its shot-on-shiteo artistic designs. For instance, the superimposition of Leo’s face over the “baby” is constantly funny due to how poor it actually is. The stained “wife-beater” of the President and his construction paper office is hilarious.
But not every joke totally works. The line “I need to get my black a*s out of here” falls completely flat as the pasty white Leo says it, and his being viewed that way by others is never set up. The Jay Leno bit goes on too long, though the person playing the former late-night host is rather terrific in the part. There are a few too many scatological moments, or at least, they last too long to remain funny. But the ratio of laughs to non-starters is actually very low.
“…a penchant for extreme close-ups and zany humor.”
That is certainly in part due to the cast. Jones fully commits to the sad sack act that is Leo while still being very funny. Nunn is gross and hysterical as the sex maniac who doesn’t want to “get better.” Travis commits wholly to the mad scientist bit, making him both insane yet very affable and oddly charming. Porter is as equally committed as her onscreen counterpart. The sequence wherein she takes the baby to the park (the less said, the better, as its sheer surprise factor is part of the fun) proves this as it is a highlight of absurdity in a film that is absurd and nothing else for 93 minutes, give or take. McKee and Gilmore are adults, but they play emotionally and sexually confused teens (who are clearly actually adults) with verve and excellent comedic timing.
Meat Machine is not for a broad audience. In fact, Garcia would probably scoff if this were to catch on somehow big. No, it’s strange, offensive, weird, a little off-putting, and gut-bustingly funny, in a Troma-on-meth kind of way. The filmmaker makes the low production value a true asset while the performers all understand the sense of humor of the production. This will paint a smile on one’s face by the end, but if that’s from making one crazy or one already being crazy, I cannot say.
"…strange, offensive, weird, a little off-putting, and gut-bustingly funny, in a Troma-on-meth kind of way."
