Scary Movie 5
I find it disturbing how much I laughed in “Scary Movie 5.” The trailer “promised” another absurd, unfunny entry in the spoof franchise that hasn’t been genuinely entertaining since the Wayans Brother’s 2000 smash hit. The fact that series leading lady, the sharp-witted and sweet Anna Faris, wasn’t starring only lowered my expectations.
However, while the script by Dave Zucker and Pat Proft remains a lowest-common-denominator mash up of ridiculous parody and celebrity cameos, “Scary Movie 5,” and it’s leading lady (Ashley Tisdale, from “High School Musical”), managed to keep me entertained, regardless of how stupid the laughs got. (And trust me: they DID get stupid.) I can’t really explain my reaction to the movie beyond that: maybe it’s because Tisdale, like Faris, is both very easy on the eyes, as well as a natural talent, comedically; maybe it’s because just about none of the jokes from the terrible trailer were in the actual movie; maybe it’s the fact that the film’s director, Malcolm D. Lee (cousin of Spike Lee), doesn’t necessarily come from the world of parody filmmaking, save for his undervalued 2002 film, “Undercover Brother,” so he understands a bit more about mining laughs through character and timing than just sight gags. Or maybe it’s because I was just hoping for something silly and stupid, and expected nothing else. If that’s the case, I think the film succeeded as much as it could.
