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Most of us, if we allow ourselves to admit it, are geeks. We suck. We're unfashionable, our friends are idiots, we don't get laid nearly enough, and our favorite Moonlighting character was played by Curtis Armstrong. The heroes in this 'road trip for dope' comedy are also geeks, only perhaps geeks of a higher level. These are like black belt geeks whereas I'd be a green belt. Maybe white.

First we have Dick (Charlie Finn). The leader of the pack and older brother to Dave and Dink, Dick is a place where cool fears to tread. He's just broken up with his longtime girlfriend, he's got no prospects, and his friends and brothers are utter goofballs. They consist of:

Dave - a heavy metal T-shirt wearing drug dealer.
Dink - a paraplegic with the temper of a hornet on LSD.
Hunter - a gigantic narcoleptic who carries Dink around.
Kevin - the man who can not frown. Or think. And he thinks he's gay. Yep, he's pretty sure he's gay.

Dick Dave and Dink are a little messed up about the fact that their parents ran away when they were kids, that is until one of them recalls that in actual fact they were chased away by cops when they discovered a hidden jungle of experimental government marijuana. With the help of a map from their folks, the lads decide to get a car and go search out the hidden crop, with a view to earning bulk riches.

And that's where things get a little skewiff. Sure, there's nothing wrong with the road trip element of the flick, in fact these characters all take turns in being a comedic highlight along the way, but when actor-turned-director Thomas Haden Church (Wings, Ned and Stacey) decides to introduce himself into the fray (twice) as a cop, then a law enforcement agent, the focal point of this happy little misadventure is lost. Kevin Pollack doesn't help things in his government agent cameo, nor does Rip Torn as an old hippie who knows where the weed is, and the constant string of gay jokes is more frat house than geek-friendly.

Added to that, the ending of the film is rife with "ah, so that's who they're going to make it a happy ending" simplicity, thekind that you really can't see coming because it's a means of ending proceedings, not a natural conclusion. You know, like one of those "And then I won the lottery" endings that you see in a lot of first-time screenplays.

Ultimately Rolling Kansas is far from a disappointment. It's easy to dismiss it as a failure if you come in halfway and miss the sheer genius of the first act and the sweet nature of the characters, but the film does lose its way the longer it goes on and that's a pity because there's plenty here to like.

It'll rent well on video, and will undoubtedly play well on college campuses, but the critics will beat it to death if it hits the big screen. Like fellow Sundance midnight screening Super Troopers before it, Rolling Kansas is more a precursor of things to come than a milestone in itself.

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=6901&reviewer=1
originally posted: 01/26/03 06:19:47
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