PIZZA MOVIE
Starring: Gaten Matarazzo, Sean Giambrone, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and Jack Martin
Directors: Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney
PAIGE
Pizza Movie is a wacky stoner comedy targeted at the Gen Z audience that is not funny in the slightest. Gaten Matarazzo tries his best to do what he can here, but the script is downright awful. It’s just one stupid joke after another. It feels like directors Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney tried to replicate the tripping scenes from 21 Jump Street and stretch them into a feature-length film. It’s chaotic and cheesy, resulting in the film wearing itself thin fairly quickly. Honestly, the best character in this movie is a food delivery robot.
ROBERT
Whenever an actor or actress has a hit project, I believe their real career begins in the aftermath of said project. I can’t say that Pizza Movie was the surefire golden ticket for Gaten Matarazzo to follow up Stranger Things with, but I thought it was raucously funny and played to his strengths. Not every film, especially college comedies, must be inventive or break the mold, so I thought this was a suitable heir to things like Animal House or 22 Jump Street for this generation. The side characters, especially the bullies, stole their scenes, and you must stick around for the butterfly reveal.
KATIE
I think if Pizza Movie committed to a tone and aesthetic, it could have been funny and even entertaining. It has a great opening and some funny moments; however, the humour feels inconsistent, the jokes that don’t work fall unbearably flat, and there are many pointless, unfunny set pieces, including a completely unnecessary celebrity cameo. It’s not the cast’s fault, and to their credit, their performances got laughs out of me despite the weak dialogue. Sean Giambrone and Jack Martin in particular are hilarious, and they’re each the best thing about this disappointing film.
