Finally, independent film gets what it deserves…! Sort of. In actuality, “My Big Fat…” is a pretty funny complete spoof of every independent film made in the last twelve years, or so the writers tries to squeeze in as much spoofs as possible. From “Snatch”, to “Amelie”, to “Waking Life”, and "Time Code", right down to “Memento”, no film is spared from the writer’s wrath, and as a well defined film that knows the instruments of storytelling and harps on that, “My Big Fat…” pretty much gets it right. Two hit men named Sam and John are sent out by their bald boss to retrieve a suitcase, a blue key, and a man whom may hold the location of the items they’re looking for, but while on the way to what they describe as a “botched robbery”, they come across an assortment of characters including a French tart chasing them on her bicycle, and a supermarket clerk who is taken advantage of by her husband. Why? “To form an unlikely bond,” John declares deadpan.

“My Big Fat…” really leaves no stone unturned as most of the spoofs had me laughing out loud. Whether it’s the animated scene spoofing “Waking Life” (“Did I tell you about my dream?! It was a dream I had!”), or watching El Mariachi attempt to converse with Amelie (“I wish life was subtitled!”), “My Big Fat…” is filled with sharp gags, and numerous brutal one-liners that I wish I could list here. But the writers seem to get a kick mostly out of spoofing Tarantino and Lynch, especially when it applies to our two hit men: “I love it when we do that, the simultaneous hit man nod. Like we’re up to no good”, and upon witnessing lesbians kissing ala “Mulholland Drive”, the lesbians reply: “It’s not sexual, it’s artistic”. Ultimately, the running gags are much funnier than the recurring gags like the disgruntled supermarket announcer, and the inevitable spoofing of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, which you’ll have to see for yourself.

Comedy is hard. You may not think it based on reading my acerbic reviews, but comedy is not as easy as I make it look. Though it is one of the least respected art forms, it’s also one of the most difficult art forms in any medium. You rarely see funny comedians, there are barely any funny sitcoms on television, and actual funny comedy movies are very hard to find. “My Big Fat…” almost gets it right, but most of the time I found the film just couldn’t get most of the jokes past me without falling flat. “My Big Fat…” often beats us over the head with its spoofing mercilessly, first shooting a joke, then dissecting said joke, and then almost explaining to the audience why the joke should be funny, and why we should laugh; the entire process of which is exhausting. Rather than depending on the weight of the joke, they simply want to support it as best as they can before it falls flat.

The writers often seemed too aware of their puns and jokes, and instead of letting it fall as it may, they simply wouldn’t let it go and continued to examine the joke and go on way too long. Whether it’s the answering machine with Jason Mewes voice which became really old really quickly, or the utterly flat musical number in the climax followed by a predictable line like “We’re supposed to just go about our business like we never sang”, it insists on beating us over the head with these gags like it has no faith in itself. The jokes are mostly hit and miss, and when it misses, it’s rather painful. There were times when the jokes were so drawn out I was saying “Alright already, we get it!” And by the time the second half rolls around, it already loses all of its steam and drags on to a flat climax that I just could care less about.

“My Big Fat…” is very inspired with its heart in the right place, but most of the jokes are hit and miss, with weak deliveries, and a second half that loses steam. Though writers Gore and Schwartz are able to capture the idiocy of select productions with hilarious running gags, the rest of the material falls flat, and insists on beating us over the head with its puns and smug sense of awareness.

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