Director Lisa Satriano’s The Big Whoop is built on a simple but inspired premise: what happens when the world’s least capable men accidentally stumble into the middle of an international heist? The answer is messy, politically incorrect, and very, very funny.
Bugs (Jim Turner), Corky (Mark Fite), and Gustav (Dave “Gruber” Allen) are three aging birthday party clowns who have clearly seen better days. The trio scrapes together whatever gigs their booking agent, Wendy (Sandra Oh), can find. On this occasion, they are booked for a little boy’s birthday party for an affluent couple. When their boisterous leader, Bugs, can’t pronounce the name of the Asian birthday boy…and makes a big deal of it, they are fired on the spot.
But not before an ancient Egyptian box is stolen by one of the servers, Gigi (Samantha Cole), and accidentally placed in the clowns’ van. Yes…an odd plot point. Now Gigi is forced to hunt down the trio who unknowingly have the stolen artifact.
Soon, Bugs realizes they are slowly losing job after job to the better-looking and more competent clown, Darius (Shin Lim). When Bugs is told their act is old and tired, he attempts to steal Darius’ act, with comedic results. Can our heroes keep it together and produce the perfect…I mean, just-good-enough-to-get-by act? Can they outmaneuver Gigi and keep from getting killed without knowing that they are even being chased at all? Let’s just say…they don’t make movies like this anymore.
Bugs (Jim Turner) and Gustav (Dave “Gruber” Allen) arrive at an affluent couple’s home in The Big Whoop.
“The Big Whoop is a very silly movie for people like me who like very silly movies.”
The Big Whoop is a very silly movie for people like me who like very silly movies. Our trio of clowns reminds me of The Three Stooges. Bugs is the leader of the group, who believes he knows everything…speaks his mind to a fault…and loves his friends as long as it suits him. I know he’s not a Stooge, but Corky is like Harpo Marx. Because of a rodeo clown incident, Corky can’t speak comprehensibly, and only Bugs and Gustav know what he’s saying. Then there’s the tragic clown Gustav, a genius who, if only the world knew of his brilliance.
Much of the movie is our trio on the verge of making it, only to have Bugs ruin everything, as neither Corky nor Gustav sees any of it. Hapless souls doomed to failure at every turn. Then you have the international heist, which the trio is completely oblivious to for most of the movie. While criminals and law enforcement try to get their hands on the artifact, the boys are just trying to get their big break.
The Big Whoop is an adult movie that speaks directly to our inner child… the bad one. The talent behind The Big Whoop is no joke. The screenplay comes from Steven Banks, the head writer of SpongeBob SquarePants. The three clowns are played by Jim Turner (Arli$$), Mark Fite (Friends), and Dave (Gruber) Allen, who stole scenes as the lovably burned-out record store employee in Freaks and Geeks.
In other words, The Big Whoop is a silly movie by Hollywood comedians who understand silly. Like Curb Your Enthusiasm, our heroes head down a slippery slope of cringe, and their troubles are mostly their doing. As Bugs, Jim Turner gets all the juice, inappropriate and politically incorrect lines, giving Fite and Allen the chance to bring sweetness as Turner’s foil.
Lisa Satriano keeps The Big Whoop moving at exactly the right pace, never letting the absurdity get too heavy or the sentiment too soft. If you have a weakness for lovable losers and comedy that fully commits to its own lunacy, The Big Whoop delivers. Again, why don’t they make comedies like this anymore?
For screening information, visit The Big Whoop official website.
"…an adult movie that speaks directly to our inner child… the bad one."
