Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews: Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget

By now, it should be no surprise that Bob Saget's stand up, comedic dark side is at odds with his clean-cut, wholesome, goody two shoes television persona. His roles as nice guy, widowed dad of three on Full House and as host of America's Funniest Home Videos are merely a veneer for a man who thrives on his X-rated jokes. This no-holds-barred roast, Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, throws Saget and his cohorts from the frying pan into the blazing hot fire with vicious barbs.

While roasts were wildly popular in the golden age of comedy gone by, when comedians such as Foster Brooks and performers like Dean Martin were partaking in the act of ripping their celeb pals to shreds, the spirit of cut-down comedy lives on via this roast. The jokes work because they play on the comics and pop culture figures we know, love and don't mind seeing skewered.

Pretty boy roastmaster John Stamos does a shockingly fantastic job tearing apart his former co-star, popping off-color, blue and gay jokes like rounds of ammo, as though vicious comedy were the most natural thing in the world for him. Who knew?

Now for the key questions: do Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who played precocious Michelle on Full House, show up? No, the pair, who are more famous than any of their former co-stars, are absent from the festivities, but they are the butt of more than a few eating disorder barbs. Greg Giraldo lets it rip, going after Cloris Leachman with no fear and little abandon, making note that Saget isn't ironically hip anymore. Jon Lovitz takes his shots by singing a song to "proclaim" Saget's heterosexuality, while the lanky Brian Posehn exhibits a dirty humor that cuts to the bone but never offends.

There aren't any forced laughs and everyone appears to be enjoying the jokes at Saget's and their own expense. Norm MacDonald's quips are drier than a desert, and while unsavvy listeners may think he's bombing, he's just being sophomoric. Leachman and Stamos share the unsexiest smooch ever caught on tape, before which Leachman delivers the zinger of the night, deadpanning, "I'm not here to roast Bob Saget. I'm here to fuck John Stamos." The joke blows in from left field and catches you off guard and yanks a laugh out of you.

The roast, which is all white, mostly male comics, moves at a quickened pace, with several camera angles, panning from roaster to roastee to toothy smiles in the crowd. Its almost as though this is a directorial technique to create an aura of 'safeness' when its a verbal slice and dice.

You gotta be a good sport to be able to endure an hour-plus of insult comedy. Fans of Saget's mainstream work will certainly thumb their noses at the blistering jokes but those who like the darker, dirtier side of the Sag, the laughs are plentiful.

— Amy Sciarretto
01.06.09