As a film within the general comedy genre, "Run Ronnie Run" definitely rates highly enough. Unfortunately, this is the brainchild of two of the funniest comedians on the planet, David Cross and Bob Odenkirk. Given this, any true fan of these guys' work from Mr. Show or The Ben Stiller Show will be disappointed to find that it just doesn't push the envelope of wit, satire and brilliance that we have become accustomed to from Bob and David. Granted, I viewed the 1.5 hr version currently traded on KaZaa, so perhaps the studio's partly to blame for the film's lack of vision. But I am inclined to think that Bob and David mistakenly set out to turn their drunken white trash hick into a typical comedic hero, a la Adam Sandler, rather than concentrate on depicting the brutality and absurdity of American media. The reason that the Ronnie Dobbs skits on Mr. Show were so great was due to Ronnie's boorish and unlikable personality - he was an asshole! But in his full length feature film, he is portrayed as a rags-to-riches protagonist, a good guy at heart, meant to invoke sympathy and a connection with the audience. By neglecting the overall parody and mockery of reality TV and modern media trends and instead building character development, "Run Ronnie Run" fails in achieving the lashing satire and bitter criticisms of our society that runs so rampant within the Mr. Show sketches and David's new comedy album "Shut Up You F**king Baby!" But in the end, I still love them and appreciate the effort they made in attempting to bring their uniquely smart humor to the big screen (perhaps someday, it will get there).
Review of Run Ronnie Run
