Hannibal Buress – Movie Smack Talk

(skip to the 31:40 mark to hear him talk about the film)

As you all know by now, Spider-Man: Homecoming has developed an amazing ensemble of actors. You have Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Donald Glover, Michael Keaton, and the hilarious Hannibal Buress.

It was reported earlier this summer that the 33-year-old comedian would be joining the cast, but no one knew how big or small his role would be. The studio has done a wonderful job of keeping the roles a mystery.

But this week one of those mysteries was solved. During an interview with The Breakfast Club radio show, Buress revealed he will be playing a gym teacher at Midtown High School, “I play one of the dumbass characters that don’t realize he’s Spider-Man. He’s Peter Parker. I’m just like… oh man, this guy’s really athletic!”

What’s interesting about his reveal is that it seems to confirm the call sheet that was leaked for the movie, which listed his role as Coach Wilson. It also listed other members of the school staff as actors Martin Starr, Kenneth Choi and Selenis Leyva.

And for those wondering, the sheet still lists Zendaya’s name in the film as “Michelle,” but you shouldn’t focus on that name too much. According to the reports, the reveal of her true identity will be saved for the end of the movie.

Spider-Man: Homecoming will hit theaters July 7, 2017.

I once tried chocolate covered bacon. While you wouldn’t expect it to work, weirdly, it did. While I wouldn’t live on it solely, I’d eat it again.

And that’s exactly how I feel about the pairing of Mark Wahlberg and Will Farrell. I enjoyed them in The Other Guys, so will admit it was a strange mix, and decided to give them a second shot on this one. Unfortunately, much like chocolate covered bacon, you can have too much of a good thing.

Farrell plays stepdad Brad, who is starting to get along with his new step kids. That is until Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) re-enters the picture intent on taking back his family. The two try to one up each other, while the long suffering wife just looks on in the thankless roll of ‘generic supportive female’.

The movie doesn’t capture the hijinks of The Other Guys as it lacks bite in the script. There’s no shock or laugh out loud moments. Instead the movie is all predictable punchlines and jokes that go on just a hair too long.

The only thing I liked about this movie was Hannibal Buress, the lesser known comic who is most known for the Bill Cosby rape joke that started the flood of lawsuits to follow. In this, he was a hilariously inept handyman who decides to just hang out all the time and insert himself into the two main characters’ fights, often stealing the show himself. His small but significant roll is one of the best parts of the film.

His character is so clever, I feel like maybe he pulled the pen from the writer’s hand and rewrote his own part. His clever character doesn’t seem to fit in with the generic, “good enough” writing style of all the other characters. My assumption is that his role was highly improvised.

I enjoy Will Farrell, but it has to be in the right roll. He’s been playing characters so long that even when writers try to make him real, he feels clichéd and boring. In this film, he’s nothing special and certainly not memorable. Mark Wahlberg is equally weak. Both men play stereotypes while trying to get laughs, but the whole effort feels forced.

This is not The Other Guys. In that movie, the unique combination worked because the script had the right amount of edge. In this one, it just feels boring, though it is mercifully short. But it’s certainly no one’s best work to date…with the exception of Hannibal Buress. That guy was the flower that grew out of the pot of dirt.

For Hannibal Buress alone, I’ll give this one a worth the watch. The movie isn’t so much painful as it’s just not that funny. As a result, if you’re looking for laugh out loud humor, I highly recommend you fast forward to all the Hannibal Buress parts. As far as I’m concerned, he made this movie.

But this is one where the Wahlberg/ Farrell comedy team just didn’t work. It’s a predictable story with a lot of predictable humor that very few people will find funny. It just not interesting enough to be laughable.

WE GAVE IT : 3 STARS! Watch the Official Trailer and See the Official Movie Poster below