By George & Josh Bate
Child actors are some of the most unpredictable performers in Hollywood. Some quietly exit their life of fame to pursue other career options while others build upon their success and grow as performers. Those who choose the latter path often attempt to create a new image for themselves, showing audiences that they are capable of playing a broader array of roads than the one that made them famous. Sometimes that transition produces some genuinely exciting work, and at other times it results in awkward projects that feel more like an act of desperation than reinvention.
That theme is baked heavily into Pizza Movie, a new stoner comedy set to release on Hulu on Disney+. The film is filled with actors who came up through Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, or projects they appeared in when they were kids. The biggest star here is Gaten Matarazzo, best known for his breakout role on Netflix’s Stranger Things. He’s joined by Sean Giambrone, who led ABC’s The Goldbergs, along with Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Lulu Wilson, Jack Martin, and a very special appearance from Daniel Radcliffe.
The story follows two teenage friends as they take a mysterious drug they find in their college dorm, leading them to a night of chaos as they bounce between parties, confront their crushes, and, as the title of the movie suggests, frantically search for pizza. It’s a coming of age story that attempts to blend boundary pushing humor with the sincerity of the relationships between the characters.
Pizza Movie is very clearly inspired by two films: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and Superbad. The basic premise mirrors Harold & Kumar, with two friends under the influence of a mind-altering substance embarking on a long and difficult for food that spirals wildly out of control. It also borrows heavily from Superbad, as the teens crash parties they aren’t invited to and display a desperate urge to impress girls before their college lives slip away. Unfortunately, Pizza Movie doesn’t come anywhere close to the charm, quotability, or genuine funniness of the films it’s so clearly inspired by. Harold & Kumar and Superbad both find a unique balance between raunchy comedy and a story full of heart and genuineness, whereas Pizza Movie far too often mistakes volume and vulgarity for humor, resulting in a comedy that is neither funny nor charming.
The film’s use of a solid cast is perhaps its only redeeming quality. The two leads share strong chemistry and their relationship feels believable and real, and Matazarro and Giambrone do well to sell the idea that these characters have been friends for years. There’s something admittedly captivating (and bizarre) about watching two child actors lean fully into a raunchy, R-rated comedy and embracing extreme profanity and sexual humor in the process. Unfortunately, these are perhaps the only notable aspects of a film that stumbles greatly in almost every area.
Pizza Movie is frequently painful to watch, not because it’s offensive, but because its humor is genuinely exhausting. The jokes feel forced, as if the creative team are desperately and relentlessly to provoke laughs from the audience with little success. Arguably the cardinal sin of comedy is leaving the audience with not a single memorable joke or funny moment in the story, which is the case in Pizza Movie. While comedic preference is obviously subjective, even the most easy-going of comedy fans will find the film’s ratio of effective to ineffective to be extraordinarily low.
VERDICT: 4/10
Pizza Movie could have been a bold step forward in the careers of various former child actors but is held back by a script that fails to deliver any jokes of note. Any flashes of charm come from the admirable efforts of a cast committed to taking the absolute most of creatively barren material at their disposal. Derivative of far better movies that it is clearly inspired by, Pizza Movie is a meal you can skip.