Wild Hogs

Year: 2007
Director: Walt Becker
Cast: John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy, Ray Liotta, Marisa Tomei

What happens when four middle aged men try to reclaim their youth by becoming wannabe bikers and going on a road trip? Chaos, especially if somewhere along the way they run into the wrong crowd.

Wild Hogs centres on 4 friends. Woody (Travolta) is a businessman going through a divorce with his supermodel wife and facing bankruptcy. Doug (Allen) is a dentist getting tired of eating fat free food due to his health problems, and not being regarded as cool by his son. Bobby (Lawrence) is a plumber struggling to be a writer, continuously henpecked by his career driven wife. Dudley (Macy) is the only single guy among them, who's a complete nerd in everything he does.

Basically life isn't going so well for them, all seeking something more. So Woody suggests a road trip on their bikes to anywhere the road takes them. Calling themselves the Wild Hogs, they hop on their cycles and head out. Before long, they arrive at a biker's bar frequented by a real biker gang called the Del Fuegos, led by the fierce Jack (Liotta). Jack and his buddies waste no time in bullying the Hogs and taking Dudley's bike. Woody refuses to let this one pass and hatches a plan to take his pal's bike back, only to cause a major incident that angers the Del Fuegos even more. The Hogs flee to a nearby town called Madrid to hide, where Dudley meets the beautiful Maggie (Tomei) and hits it off with her. However, the Del Fuegos show up soon enough, and with the local sheriff not brave enough to enforce the law against them, can the Hogs face the music and survive the odds?

I don't usually watch comedies, due to being unable to find a good one. But this one lives up to being funny most of the time. All four leads do well in their roles, especially Macy, who plays a nerd hilariously. Check out the scene where he shows off his Apple tattoo, or the scene when he shows his plastic bag of faeces to the others. Macy is probably one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood, as proven here. Liotta plays the villain just like all the other villains he's played onscreen. It's like a second skin to him, too easy I guess. But no less effective of course.

Director Walt Becker and writer Brad Copeland do a good job in creating a film that although isn't perfect, brings on the laughs in good measure. Granted, some of the elements in this film may seem contrived, but the cast do well in making it believable, and getting the audience to root for them. By the way, look out for a cameo appearance by a famous actor towards the film's end.

If you want a comedy that doesn't require much thinking, this one does just fine. (3.5/5)