Rent Fubar (2002)

If They're So Funny, You Live Next Door to Them - Fubar review by Strovey

Written by Michael Dowse and Paul Spence, who also played Dean in the film this film is a mockumentary about two slacker metalheads which nowadays and even twenty-years ago when this film was made, was a familiar idea.

The conceit of the story, or documentary if you will, is that metalheads are useless, stupid and mainly drunk, which as we all know is not the case in real life, you can be all of these things and not be a metalhead and you can erudite, bright and intelligent and be a metalhead, unfortunately this seems to be the only thing the film wants to tell us. So be warned you once you have got this point, whether you think it is hilarious or tedious, that is it – for 76 minutes, there is nothing else the makers want to tell you, no shade or pathos, just two selfish, idiots, behaving like selfish idiots, realistically to their credit, I could easily see where some might think this was a real documentary.

At the beginning of the film when Farrel is showing Dean and Terry his other films to persuade them to be the topic of this ‘documentary’ Terry whilst viewing shouts ‘Turn up the good, turn down the suck!’ and it is a shame they did not take their own advice.

What you have in Fubar is a documentary maker following the lives of two fools you would not want to live next door to or want to know. With a bit more thought they could have been more likable and less stupid, but the most unforgivable part of the whole project is that both Dean and Terry and self-centred and only really like each other. When the story takes a darker turn and it believe me it does – is this part supposed to be funny, I do not know – their behaviour is again supposed to be funny but in fact it selfish, meanspirited and frankly appalling.

You could say Fubar could be showing versions of Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar as they really are. When you make two characters in this vein you want to spend time with them, not dislike them and want to be thousands of miles away from them (I am). Wayne’s World whilst silly and not realistic is a nice place to be.

Fubar is not funny and I found it depressing and confusing. Perhaps it is a Canadian sense of humour thing, or I do not understand the culture but for a mockumentary surely you ought to show your audience something, make them think, in this case I only thought, ‘These guys are a-holes, and I don’t like them.’

I am almost certain that is not what they were intending when they made the film.