One of the delights of press tour is bumping into actors who you just saw in something terrific. Ran into Terry Crews at the CBS/CW party last week and, while he’s exactly right as the hard ass dad on Everybody Hates Chris (heading into its fourth season), all I wanted to talk to him about was Idiocracy, a little seen 2006 gem from King of the Hill creator Mike Judge.
If you haven’t seen this crazy little picture run out and rent it now. The film stars Luke Wilson as an average guy (in fact, the most average guy in the U.S. military), who is chosen (along with a hooker, played by SNL alumni Mya Rudolph) for an experiment, a secret, year-long military hibernation.
Something goes wrong, ‘natch, and these kids are frozen for 500 years, only to emerge in the year 2505 and discover that, after centuries of dumbification, the world has become unbelievably stupid.
This film–from the select archives of neighbor Jimmy–was a big hit at the cottage this year. So when I ran into Crews, who plays outrageous future U.S. president Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, I was able to tell him we watched the damn thing three times in one weekend and laughed out asses off each time.
Crews says he gets this all the time, especially from his Hollywood pals. “Will Ferrell came up to me and said, ‘IDIOCRACY!'” says Crews, laughing.
The film has some of the funniest dialogue and sight gags ever. “Don’t worry scrote,” says a doctor who examines Luke Wilson’s character. “There are plenty of ‘tards out there living really kick ass lives.” Wish I could subscribe now to one of the magazines that appears in Judge’s harsh future world: “Hot Naked Chicks and World Report.”
After being delayed a year due to poor testing, the movie only opened in seven cities at 125 theatres and no screeners were ever sent to critics. Box office receipts totalled a little over $444,000. So far, according to Wikipedia (so it must be true), it has earned over $9 million in DVD rentals.
It probably didn’t help that the film, which savages Fox News, was distributed by 20th Century Fox. Other corporations come in for a roasting, especially Starbucks, Wal-mart, Carl’s Jr. and Gatorade. How stupid do things get in the future? Get aload of this clip:
Crews thinks it also may have been ahead of its time. “I just saw Wall-E–same story,” he says. I dunno about that, but rent Idiocracy today. Best enjoyed with extra big ass fries.
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