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Movie 43, the brain spawn of Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber) and his co-conspirator, Charlie Wessler, is finally set for release. The film was made over a four-year period and features shorts crafted by more than 15 writers and directors, including Farrelly, Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundieff, James Duffy, Griffin Dunne, James Gunn, Bob Odenkirk (better call Saul!), and Brett Ratner.

 

The film took four years to film mainly due to the large number of big-name stars -- 31 to be exact. With so many A-listers on and off camera (like Kate Winslet, Elizabeth Banks, Halle Berry, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Kieran Culkin, Josh Duhamel, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Chloe Moretz, Justin Long, Leslie Bibb, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Seann William Scott, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, and more), they had to film in short chunks to fit everyone’s schedule.

 

Movie 43 is basically a collection of short stories, but the word on the street is that there is an overarching plot that knits together all the sketches into a cohesive whole... or at least, that’s the plan.

 

These segements include: Emma Stone and Kieran Culkin as a couple who split up and meet again at a supermarket to talk out their issues – without realizing they’re also on loudspeaker; real-life couple Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber as parents who home-school their son (Jeremy Allen White) but decide he needs to go through the authentic high school experience – including being bullied by his own father; Halle Berry on a very weird ‘Net date with Stephen Merchant (which I hear includes a turkey baster); Kate Winslet, who goes to dinner with Hugh Jackman and discovers something very odd about him; and another short that caught my attention involving Leslie Bibb looking like Wonder Women, Justin Long as Robin, and Jason Sudeikis as Batman (all homemade costumes might I add -- see above photo).

 

The film sounds hilarious, and with an all-star cast, it should work out in theory... Some people don’t like random segmented plot lines since it’s hard to build a “relationship” with the characters on screen and really connect to what is happening. It really comes down to how much they can say without really saying it.

 

One successful film that comes to mind that uses multiple directors and short stories is 1995's Four Rooms. This movie featured interlocking tales that take place in a fading hotel on New Year's Eve. Personally, I thought Four Rooms was hilarious, however that was only four directors and a handful of celebrities. I’m interested to see how Movie 43 will play out; it could be very good… or very bad.

 

If you're so inclined, check out the EXTREMELY NSFW red bad trailer for Movie 43 here, and see some A-list stars (a few of them Oscar winners) do unspeakable things!

 

Movie 43 is set to release January 25, 2013

 

 

- Felix Kay, YH Staff