Movie and Television Reviews

Man, I’m glad that was over. I had a choice between Twenty-Eight Weeks Later and Delta Farce. To maintain solidarity with my Southern comrades and because I felt I would have some affinity with a movie set in Iraq (which I "visited") with characters in the Army reserves (like me) who visit Mexico (as I have [and I have the wife to prove it]), I chose Delta Farce.

The relentlessly unfunny DF causes one to wonder whether the producers of the movie intentionally made a comedy without jokes or just forgot to include them. In fact, the whole movie seems like a project slapped together because Larry the Cable guy’s two-week vacation was a month away.

The premise isn’t bad, actually, and it could have been a passable fish out of water comedy. Three out of shape reservists (no, not redundant), all of whom share a certain skin condition inherent in Caucasian men from the South that affects, mainly, the area on the body between the head and the shoulders, are deployed to Iraq. When their transport runs into some bad weather, they’re accidentally dropped in Mexico where they still have a chance to do some good fighting bandidos.

As I mentioned, however, the movie has zero funny bits or jokes. The writers seem to be counting on people to look at Larry the cable guy, Bill Ingvar, and DJ Qualls and just start laughing; or, perhaps the writers are hoping people remember the actors’ jokes from their “Blue Collar Comedy” DVDs.

I took notes and was prepared to give many examples, but I think I’ll just mention my biggest objections and give one example. You won’t see it anyways.

1. The producers don't bother getting any military details correct. When do soldiers wear berets without any unit crests or rank?

2. If the writers intend some of the dialogue to be funny, they only have enough jokes for half a movie as, and I’m being serious here, each “joke” is repeated at least twice. The sergeant, for example drinks Larry’s urine (ha!) AND eats from his spit cup (HA HA!). DJ Qualls says “Iraq is a land of miracles” twice. "Don’t ask, don’t tell,” twice. Maybe instead of being filmed during Larry’s vacation, it was filmed over three of Larry’s vacations and they forgot what was in the earlier parts.

3. Some of the humor just doesn’t make any sense. Why would DJ Qualls’ character, Everett, participate in a wrestling match if he was going to assault the bandidos’ camp? Talk about shoehorning a joke!

And, I don’t mind self-referential redneck humor in general, but it should be more than just holding up hunting targets Look, we hunt. We’re rednecks!.

4. Larry is OK. Bill Ingvar is not very funny. DJ Qualls is the best as his character mocked a sort of military-nerdy, gung-ho soldier, but I don’t find soldiers that can’t wait to break the rules of war, funny.

Politics/Social commentary:

Once the soldiers get to town they fix a bunch of stuff, suggesting either that Southern men are very resourceful or that Mexicans can’t dig wells without help.

The movie is too dumb to make any cogent comments on society, but the message of the movie seems generally pro-military. According to DF, the main job of the military is to spread freedom and help people.

Watch the trailer above. It has every bit of "humor" in the movie. It's odd that in every movie I go to, people laugh hardest during the parts they've seen a hundred times in the previews.

Follow up:

Director: C.B. Harding
Writers (WGA):
Bear Aderhold (written by) &
Tom Sullivan (written by)

Michael Edward Rose ... Sgt. Major

Glenn Morshower ... General
Larry The Cable Guy ... Larry

Christina Moore ... Karen
Lorna Scott ... Woman at Cowboy Frank’s
Bill Engvall ... Bill

Parker Goris ... Bill's Boy

Michael Papajohn ... Bill’s Neighbor

Lisa Lampanelli ... Connie

DJ Qualls ... Everett
Ed O'Ross ... Victor

Lance Smith ... Sgt. Adams

Bill Doyle ... Colonel

Keith David ... Sgt. Kilgore

McKinley Freeman ... Airborne Soldier