Buddy
Review by Mark Woodring
Parents will know that all children’s television shows are inherently creepy.
Buddy just explains why.
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below, then listen or watch as he and Ryan discuss the film in more detail. Remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
95 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Casper Kelly, Jamie King
Directed by Casper Kelly
Synopsis:
A brave girl and her friends must escape a kids television show.
Back in 1992, John Ritter and Pam Dawber starred in a Peter Hyams film called Stay Tuned, in which they are sucked into Satan’s satellite dish and have to survive all 666 channels in order to escape.
In the 1990s, this was a revolutionary idea, and while Stay Tuned was rated PG, the 21st century grandchild of that basic conceit is most certainly rated R.
Buddy stars an ostensibly lovable orange unicorn, teaching the children in his park about friendship, honesty, love, and murder through the power of song.
Well, they learn that last lesson the hard way, and there’s no singing involved.
The children summon him from his stuffed animal state into life by calling his name, just like that big, purple dinosaur whose name is never spoken in this house.
Buddy is an exceptionally well-crafted bit of terrifying nostalgia, which helps alleviate the overall annoying nature of Buddy (the unicorn, not the movie) as the children slowly realize that they are doomed to death if Buddy believes they no longer love him and sing the song that forces the credits to roll and start the next episode.
Literally.
Buddy knows he’s in a TV show, and welcomes the end of every episode and it’s pronouncement of the kids’ love for him so he can watch the words come up.
Freddy, the smartest of the kids in the park, discovers what happens when you challenge Buddy: you get re-cast.
Don’t think you’re safe if you’re one of the few adults on the show, either; show business is a fickle beast, and so is Buddy.
Watch for aspect ratio changes and picture quality variances throughout to more concretely establish what the hell is going on here, and there’s a great cameo in the second half that made me laugh out loud.
Buddy is certainly not going to be for everyone, but I found it to be a riot and enjoyed watching it immensely.
I hope you do, too.
Buddy is in theaters now and stars Delaney Quinn, Caleb Williams, Bennie Taylor, Luke Speakman, Madison Skyy Polan, Phuong Kubacki, Patton Oswalt, Keegan-Michael Key, Eric Bauza, Christine Milioti, and Topher Grace.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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