2010
Rated: Unrated
Genre: Comedy Sketch Parody Online Short
Directed By: Larry Longstreth
Running Time: 19 Minutes
Review by: Felix Vasquez Jr.
Review Date: 2/5/10

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Digg!
DOLLY OXEM'S TRAVELING VIDEO CIRCUS

 

One thing I've always liked about Larry Longstreth is his ability to pull off comedy that would be lost on someone less talented. The man knows how to stage certain scenes and when relying on his own abilities to pick up the slack, he pulls off some pretty interesting gags. Dolly Oxem is a character that I was irritated by right from the beginning, but as the short went on, I eventually grew to enjoy the zany clown for all he brought to the front. Longstreth completely pours himself in to this cartoon character and almost makes the fake nose and glasses prop funny again. As for the other sketches in this variety short,

Longstreth again displays his ability to change faces as he plays a sex predator who happens to be going around his neighborhood announcing he's a sex predator, and there's also his mock commercial about his company Leonard's packaged meats where he struggles to get through his monologue showing how health and environmentally conscious his business is. It's hard to take the man seriously when we see his crew member in the shadows with what looks like an outdated camcorder on a tripod.  

And Larry's comeback to the host of the "America's Funniest Home Videos" parody also provided quite a few laughs. Much of what occurs in "Dolly Oxem" reminded me so much of "Tim and Eric's Awesome Show Great Job" as Larry takes chances with his characters and jumps from one gag to another with ease. And as a horror fan I also have to give him credit for staging a funny but creepy parody of "Night of the Living Dead."

I was very mixed with "Dolly Oxem" as you can imagine by the rating above. While Larry Longstreth does indeed pump some genuine off beat humor sometimes, other times there are jokes and skits that could have been pulled off with much more thought behind them. The fake commercials didn't really ever make me laugh at all, and there were times where I was wondering what exactly Longstreth was trying to do with them, while Dolly Oxem doesn't exactly get center stage considering he takes the title of the whole short film. Longstreth is not concerned with pulling off traditional humor, but there are instances where the skits go on too long like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch and I sat waiting for him to move on to something funnier. And I could also never really get why we had to go in to the minds of some of the crew members, nor could I understand why Larry takes center stage in the middle with a crew member interview that cut to brief comedic scenes that also never hit home as they seem to want to do. All in all, Dolly Oxem is an experiment that could do with much more mixing up and re-edits and less bizarre humor for the sake of being bizarre.

Admittedly, "Dolly Oxem" is a mixed bag of comedy that hits with pinpoint precision and comedy that misses by a mile. Director Larry Longstreth leaves a lot of room for improvement so in spite of our reservations, we're anxious to see what he does with this formula next. It has potential to be a hit series if approached with the right creative direction.

 

 

 

Have something to say about this review? Pop on over to Cinema-Lunatics
and speak your mind in our
Answer Back! Forums >>

 


[   Link to Us   |   FAQ   |   Top^   ]
All written reviews material and content are a copyright of Felix Vasquez Jr. and Cinema Crazed.
Content borrowed without written permission will not be permitted.

¤ ¤ ¤