Wayneâs World
If thereâs any comedy star in recent cinema history who is more misunderstood than most, it would have to be Mike Myers, whom (according to most accounts) is said to take his particular style of comedy very seriously to that of almost a perfectionist level, a far cry from the usually breezy, lighthearted portrayals that he is known for onscreen and even more surprising considering when his jokes and gags misfire from time to time usually because of his notoriously excessive mugging for the camera. He did manage to be part of the cast of Saturday Night Live during its true Golden Years from 1986 to 1995 (before the showâs spirit died almost immediately after) and it was while there that he got to work with Dana Carvey, a guy who would definitely be in the argument as being the single greatest performer in the entire history of the show (and thatâs including Chevy, Belushi and Murphy among many others), an absolutely fearless entertainer and mimic whose whacked out impersonations and even more whacked out original creations would entertain millions every Saturday night. So good was Carvey at making people laugh that a seemingly lucrative movie comedy run appeared to lay ahead for him, curtailed only by a botched heart surgery in the late 90s that left him too weakened to pursue a full time career. It was in working with Myers on the show that the two came up with Wayneâs World, a massively popular recurring sketch about two grown adult dunderheads with a love of heavy metal who were starring in their own public access show where they basically gave their take on whatever various topics happened to spring into their mind. While the live studio audiences on SNL would burst into manic applause as if they were at an actual rock concert, the irony was that Myers had originally developed the Wayne Campbell character as a solo act while with the Second City improv group and was resistant to the idea of having Carvey join him as a sidekick while Carvey for his part actually made his Garth Algar into one of his more subdued SNL creations that nonetheless would fit in with the exuberant Wayne to a tee. Eventually Hollywood would come calling in 1992, making Wayneâs World the second (after Blues Brothers) film ever made based upon SNL material and even more amazingly to this day, is still the single highest grossing SNL movie ever at the box office despite the slew of films that would come afterwards from the showâs roster of long running sketches. But Myers was still a tough nut to crack. Penelope Spheeris (director of several metal based music videos and documentaries) was hired to direct based on her obvous credentials and clashed so hard and so often with Myers during the filming that he would block her from any involvement with the sequel and she would vow to never work with him again in a war of words that embarrassingly would go public at the time of the filmâs release. Even worse than that was when the movie was filmed as written with its basic plotline, the final product clocked in at a whopping 45 minutes, thus requiring Myers and Carvey to go back to the drawing board and come up with various ideas for scenes that could be written and used as âfillerâ in order to flesh out the running time including the use of various random cameos throughout the film. What we get then is a mishmash concoction where the actual story is not all that strong but yet many of the more random bits actually amount to being pure comedy gold. The film allows us to see the Wayne and Garth characters out of their usual element in the basement of Wayneâs parentsâ house (keeping in mind that even though we are told that he lives at home with his parents, they are never seen on camera nor do they ever play any role in the plot of either this or the sequel), walking around and interacting with other people besides themselves, with Garth being portrayed as more of a socially awkward misfit rather than the spazzy nerd he was in the sketches (and Carveyâs dedication was as such that in manipulating his own face to create Garthâs overbite, he wound up having to put icepacks on his face after every day of shooting). Neither of them appear to work any kind of a job other than the public access show (which they obviously would be paying for out of their own pockets to keep on the air) but nonetheless appear to have an active social life, always hanging out in bars and clubs enjoying live music while toting around a number of friends (who are crew members on the show) including a guy with a habit of telling everybody that he loves them, another with a thing for hitting on older women and a buddy of theirs who always seems to be drunk off his ass (or on drugs) whom whenever we see him at his day job as a mechanic clean and sober comes off as being a completely different person who doesnât even remember hanging out with Wayne and Garth the night before even while talking to them. In other words, the duo are portrayed as living a carefree lifestyle devoid of any responsibility whatsoever as they navigate their way through the local music scene (but are never shown drinking or ever being under the influence themselves) and Wayne falls in love with and pursues a female rock singer (Tia Carrere, who can count this as being her career highlight before becoming a B movie goddess) while avoiding his psychotically obsessed ex girlfriend (Lara Flynn Boyle, ironically better looking and more appealing than Carrere despite the negative character portrayal contrasted against Carrereâs âgoodâ girl). The real story gets rolling when they are approached by a sleazy TV executive (Rob Lowe, still reeling from his sex tape scandal four years earlier with this being considered his official comeback) who offers Wayne the chance to do the one thing he has always dreamed of: actually being paid (and paid well) to do the show for a living. And this is where an eerie ambiguous nature comes into play: Loweâs interest in the show seems genuine, the offer is straight and fair and Lowe himself (despite being an obvious narcissist) along with his assistant (Kurt Fuller) appear to treat Wayne and Garth (along with their friends who are hired also) pretty damn well. So whatâs the problem here? Well for one thing, it appears that Wayne and Garth were a little bit too passive about certain changes made to the show (including an off camera voiceover announcer) until right up until the first broadcast and the idea of them being required to have their main sponsor (an arcade tycoon played by Brian Doyle-Murray who also seems to be an amicable guy) appear on the show to promote his business (which was in the contract that they signed) causes Wayne to blow his top, insult the man on live television and then storm off in a fit of diva like rage. I guess it all has something to do with the adverse reaction to âselling outâ (a common thing in the rock music world) and not doing your own thing completely to your satisfaction, but considering who Wayne and Garth were to begin with (a couple of losers), the fact that they of all people are unwilling to make a couple of concessions in order to live their dream doesnât ring as true as it should (although it does provide the reason for Lowe to allow his true slimy nature to emerge). Thank goodness for the more random bits throughout that truly save the movie, including the legendary jamming out in the car to Queenâs Bohemian Rhapsody that opens the film (during which both Myers and Carvey injured their necks while headbanging) that was so popular that it put Queen right back on the radar in the music scene despite Freddie Mercuryâs recent death, a bit where they pull up besides a Rolls Royce and asks if they have any Grey Poupon, an extended (and funny) Laverne And Shirley spoof, a scene where they attend an Alice Cooper concert and get backstage to meet the man himself, another unforgettable cameo involving a cop on a motorcycle and best of all Ed OâNeill stealing the movie every chance he gets as an unhinged donut shop manager, even getting scolded by Wayne not to talk to the camera (only he and Garth can do that) of which that bit of the camera being its own character throughout the film would pave the way for reality TV five years ahead of its time. In the end, this amounts to being a likable, goofy and quite funny film that has held up remarkably well after 25 years, maybe even more so than the Austin Powers series over which Myers had full creative control ofâŚ
8/10