America in the future of 1998 has become bankrupt and owes a huge debt to other nations it has borrowed money from, so a telethon is held to prevent the country from being repossessed by wealthy Native Americans.
Director Neal Israel, who also co-wrote the witty and uncannily prescient script with Michael Mislove and Monica Johnson, maintains a zany tone and snappy pace throughout. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast, with especially lively contributions from Peter Riegert as shrewd media expert Eric McMerkin, Nancy Morgan as the perky Lucy Beth, Fred Willard as backstabbing aide Vincent Vanderhoff, Chief Dan George as easygoing billionaire Sam Birdwater, and Richard Schaal as bumbling bodyguard Jerry. However, it's the incredibly accurate way in which this film predicts many things that in some way or another have come to pass that in turn makes this movie such a gut-busting riot: Laid-back skirt-chasing President Chet Roosevelt (the always solid and likable John Ritter) prefigures both Bill Clinton with the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and George W. Bush riding his father's coattails into the oval office, arrogant washed-up emcee Monty Rushmore (a terrifically pompous portrayal by Harvey Korman) starring in a hit sitcom as a cross-dressing character brings to mind the huge success of "Mrs. Doubtfire" in the 1990's and Bruce Jenner turning into Caitlyn Jenner, plus his addiction to pills ties in with manic depressives being prescribed Prozac by psychiatrists in that same decade; dare devil Rudy Budnitz (rocker Meat Loaf) versus the car registers as the sort of reckless thing that's par for the course on an average episode of "Jackass," Zane Buzby's crazy puke rock act serves as an ideal prototype for Lady Gaga's more outrageous "look at me!" attention-seeking stunts (meat dress, anyone?), and Jay Leno fighting his mother in a boxing ring brings to mind all those ghastly trash talk shows that frequently have family members getting into fierce shouting matches that sometimes devolve into the downright ugly and physical. In addition, there's the collapse of the Soviet Union, the American dollar losing a significant amount of its value, Native Americans regaining ownership of the country through becoming rich and powerful (this basically happened with Native Americans amassing a fortune in the gaming industry with all the casinos they own and operate), smoking has been outlawed, an ISIS-type Middle East terrorist organization that tries to stop the telethon through violent means (yep, there's some parallel to 9/11 here as well), and even Donald Trump's worst nightmare coming true with San Diego being purchased by the Mexicans (!). A total hoot that's lost precious little of its timeless and topicality.
Director Neal Israel, who also co-wrote the witty and uncannily prescient script with Michael Mislove and Monica Johnson, maintains a zany tone and snappy pace throughout. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast, with especially lively contributions from Peter Riegert as shrewd media expert Eric McMerkin, Nancy Morgan as the perky Lucy Beth, Fred Willard as backstabbing aide Vincent Vanderhoff, Chief Dan George as easygoing billionaire Sam Birdwater, and Richard Schaal as bumbling bodyguard Jerry. However, it's the incredibly accurate way in which this film predicts many things that in some way or another have come to pass that in turn makes this movie such a gut-busting riot: Laid-back skirt-chasing President Chet Roosevelt (the always solid and likable John Ritter) prefigures both Bill Clinton with the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and George W. Bush riding his father's coattails into the oval office, arrogant washed-up emcee Monty Rushmore (a terrifically pompous portrayal by Harvey Korman) starring in a hit sitcom as a cross-dressing character brings to mind the huge success of "Mrs. Doubtfire" in the 1990's and Bruce Jenner turning into Caitlyn Jenner, plus his addiction to pills ties in with manic depressives being prescribed Prozac by psychiatrists in that same decade; dare devil Rudy Budnitz (rocker Meat Loaf) versus the car registers as the sort of reckless thing that's par for the course on an average episode of "Jackass," Zane Buzby's crazy puke rock act serves as an ideal prototype for Lady Gaga's more outrageous "look at me!" attention-seeking stunts (meat dress, anyone?), and Jay Leno fighting his mother in a boxing ring brings to mind all those ghastly trash talk shows that frequently have family members getting into fierce shouting matches that sometimes devolve into the downright ugly and physical. In addition, there's the collapse of the Soviet Union, the American dollar losing a significant amount of its value, Native Americans regaining ownership of the country through becoming rich and powerful (this basically happened with Native Americans amassing a fortune in the gaming industry with all the casinos they own and operate), smoking has been outlawed, an ISIS-type Middle East terrorist organization that tries to stop the telethon through violent means (yep, there's some parallel to 9/11 here as well), and even Donald Trump's worst nightmare coming true with San Diego being purchased by the Mexicans (!). A total hoot that's lost precious little of its timeless and topicality.