The Extreme Adventures Of Super Dave - Movie Review

01 November 2005

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Ever wished longingly for the glory days when you could watch "Late Night with David Letterman" and catch a little bit of that wacky Super Dave Osborne, the stuntman who just can't get things right? Well now you can relive those happy moments at your leisure, by taking Super Dave home in his theatrical -- er, straight-to-video -- debut: The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave!

What, you aren't frantically dialing your phone to reserve your copy at the video store yet? Take off your shoes and put down the car keys. If this video has proven anything, it's that what can be funny for 1/2 a minute probably usually won't make it for 91. Oh, how Super Dave proves it.

In the film, Bob Einstein, aka Super Dave Osborne, finds himself a washed-up stuntman. His manager has run off with his fortunes, his fun park is failing, and he finds himself in the charge of a sick little boy. Dave retires to train up-and-coming stunt stars, and soon an heir apparent arises, even dubbing himself Super Dave Jr. But Jr. turns out to be a traitor in the employ of Dan Hedaya's evil promoter. A grudge match is announced, and Super Dave must jump half a mile of cars in order to win the prize and save the kid.

That smell is not your garbage can, it's this movie, which has all the plot of a box of Cheerios. Perhaps less, if you include the maze on the back. Most of the nutty stunts are repeats from "Letterman"'s of old, and while a few earn a chuckle or two, you aren't likely to break much of a smile during the running time of this dog. The production might as well have been made with a Handicam, and the shot sequence of Dave - car falling - dummy gets crushed by car gets very old, very fast.

But wait! Don't give up yet! filmcritic.com's exclusive inside news says that next we can expect a feature-length "Top Ten" list! You gotta dream.

Image caption The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave