Review: POPSTAR

POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING
(COMEDY)
3.5 out of 4 stars 
Directed by Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone
Starring: Adam Sandberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Sarah Silverman, Tim Meadows, Imogen Poots, Chris Redd, Maya Rudolph, Will Arnett, Chelsea Peretti
Rated R for some graphic nudity, language throughout, sexual content and drug use.
86 minutes
Verdict: Absurd, bombastic, and absurdly bombastic, POPSTAR is a painfully funny comedy with a roster of hilarious and weirdly catchy songs from The Lonely Island guys.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING IF YOU LIKED:
HOT ROD  (2007)
THIS IS SPINAL TAP  (1984)
THIS IS THE END  (2013)
ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY  (2004)
I'M STILL HERE  (2010)

POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING is a mockumentary parody of concert films like JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER, KATY PERRY: PART OF ME and ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US, featuring an impressive array of music star cameos and interviews that include Mariah Carey, Simon Cowell, Ringo Starr, and numerous others it would be a crime to spoil, in the service of showing the rollercoaster journey of popstar Conner Friel (Andy Samberg), aka "Kid Conner", aka "Conner4Real", as he attempts to go solo after his obnoxious showboating breaks apart his band, The Style Boyz.  The movie is written and produced by and stars the three-man comedy troupe "The Lonely Island", comprised of Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, who got their start on Saturday Night Live and have produced several viral internet comedic music videos like "Dick in a Box" featuring Justin Timberlake, "I'm on a Boat" featuring T-Pain, "I Just Had Sex" featuring Akon, "Jack Sparrow" featuring Michael Bolton, and "YOLO" featuring Adam Levine and Kendrick Lemar, as well as working together on the 2007 cult-classic HOT ROD.  With the group's breakout star Samberg in the spotlight, Schaffer and Taccone co-star and direct in a story that possibly reflects some of the group's own grappling with success, like $20 million therapy.

Conner is introduced as a music prodigy in his youth, eventually finding mainstream success with his lifelong pals Owen (Taccone) and Lawrence (Schaffer) as the Style Boyz, with hit songs like "I'm So Humble", but eventually Conner's own star outshines the group, a success that Conner does not handle gracefully as he begins rejecting Lawrence's lyrics and Owen's beats that made them so successful in the first place.  Lawrence quits the band to become a farmer in the Colorado mountains, while Conner takes his act solo and makes Owen little more than his on-stage DJ as they go on tour to promote Conner's new album Connquest, with songs created by Conner like "Equality", an anthem to gay marriage where in every other line Conner stumbles over himself to remind his fans that he's not gay, "Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)" interwoven with Osama Bin Laden-based innuendos like "She said 'Invade my cave with your special unit,'" and "Mona Lisa", in which he compares the iconic painting to a Garbage Pail Kid.  But the album is a flop, a situation that isn't helped by a number of subsequent public disasters and faux pas, plus an opening act who's becoming increasingly belligerent.  Along for the ride are SNL veterans Tim Meadows and Sarah Silverman as his much put-upon agent and his insightful publicist, respectively, and Imogen Poots as his similarly shallow and slyly named girlfriend, Ashley Wednesday, in addition to Conner's vast entourage of yes men and women whose roles range from reasonable to ridiculous.
The music industry and tabloid antics may be an easy target, but the Lonely Island guys bring with them a lot of comic ingenuity and balls (not kidding about the latter; don't bring your grandma, unless she's into that sort of thing, in which case, definitely bring your grandma), most evident in the catchy and often very salty soundtrack full of intricate and hilarious rhymes that make even the end credits worth sitting through (despite no stinger).  The laughs come rapidly, and sometimes, it's so gut-bustingly funny that it's exhausting.  Personally, I'm not very well versed in the specifics of what's being lampooned, be it concert documentaries (I think I might have seen a Jonas Brothers one once, but I seriously don't remember) or Justin Bieber, but I have a vague familiarity with them, and what really sells in the farce are the jabs at celebrity excess and tabloid antics, and The Lonely Island's penchant for wild absurdity.  Cinematographer Brandon Trost adds the movie to his resume of unreasonably handsome-looking comedies like NEIGHBORS and THIS IS THE END, adding hilariously ironic legitimacy to the juvenile ridiculousness.  To be fair, there's an easy argument that this is essentially another case of an SNL skit extended to feature length, but at a brisk 86 minutes and with more than enough belly laughs, it earns its place handily.  Even after the likes of THE NICE GUYS and NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING, POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING is now the movie to beat for funniest movie of the year.

Images via NBC/Universal