In the spirit of Bill Murray's "Meatballs" and Andy Samberg's "Hot Rod", PLEASE DON'T DESTROY: THE TREASURE OF FOGGY MOUNTAIN delivers non-stop adult laughs and stupidity.
A new generation of SNL writer/performers are behind the film and they deliver as a trio of best friends who live together but have never grown up. Martin Herlihy is Martin, currently born again and ready to wed his uber-religious sweetheart. Ben Marshall plays Ben (sensing a pattern here?) the son of a mega-outdoor store owner who's anxious to take over the business but seems completely inept at adulting. His biggest idea for the store is to turn it into a Boy's Hair Salon. John Higgins plays John, the biggest man-child of the bunch. He can't stand to think about his bros not being there to party 24/7.
Socially awkward, nerds of the highest order and unaware of their lameness, the trio sets off to discover a treasure long thought hidden in the woods near their house.
The plot is almost secondary to all the laughs and mayhem.
Conan O'Brien steals every scene he's in as Ben's Dad, owner of the Trout Plus super-store. His exasperation at the dudes antics never fails and O'Brien delivers every line flawlessly & with fervor.
Newcomer Megan Stalter and X Mayo (The Farewell) are hilarious as two park rangers who decide to compete with the boys to steal the treasure. Stalter has the hots for John and can't quite find it in her to be a bad girl.
Bowen Yang is funny as a cult leader whose been stuck in the woods for FAR too long.
What the guys get right is the pace and patter of the film. It moves quickly and never goes more than a minute without a solid laugh. Killer hawks, vulgarity and dick jokes abound. Their commitment to high school boys humor is admirable and appreciated.
The trio has made their name creating 3-minute digital shorts on SNL. It's a huge leap to tackle a 90 minute movie, but I think they've made a hell of a run at it their first time out. It sometimes wonders off the narrative path, but then finds it's way back to some goofy happenings.
Dumb. Hilariously Dumb.
I laughed a LOT, earning Herlihy, Marshall & Higgins a B- and anticipation to see what they'll do next. Someone give Megan Stalter a film of her own, she is fall over funny.
Critics hated this movie and audiences currently have it over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Count me in with the masses.
