National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many (2007)90 mins., RStarring John Melendez, Bellamy Young, Hudson Leick, Jeffrey Ross, Suzanna Melendez, Marc Cuban, Sandra Taylor, Modi Rosenfeld and Jim J. BullockWritten by John MelendezDirected by Michael DeLorenzoProduced by Chapter 2 Productions in association with Digital Film CompanyDVD released by National Lampoon and distributed by Arts Alliance America
When I sat down to watch
National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many, I was expecting just that: another one too many bad Lampoon movies! Thankfully, I was wrong.
John Melendez, aka Stuttering John, (who also wrote, co-produced, and wrote/performs several of the songs) stars as Tom, an out-of-work actor who hasn't been happy in any of his relationships because he always wants to be with other women. He finally hits on the idea that the answer to his problem is to find a woman who will want to be with another woman too! Best friend Ernie (Jeffrey Ross) thinks he's crazy, and psychiatrist Derek (Jim J. Bullock) tells him it all has to do with his family. But while subbing for another actor in a dinner theater production, Tom meets the beautiful Jennifer (Bellamy Young) who shares a secret desire—she's always wanted to be with another woman too.
The two start dating, and pretty soon Jennifer tells Tom she's ready for a threesome, but with a set of rules. Everything seems fine until the time of the actual threesome, with a singer named Darla (Hudson Leick) comes, and suddenly a whole new set of problems comes up.
One, Two, Many is surprisingly well-written and most of the actors are really good (a brief cameo by Marc Cuban being one of the few poor ones). John shows actual range, and even has a dramatic moment! The movie isn't set up like a traditional movie; there's a beginning, a middle, and an end, but there's not really a straight path it follows; instead, it's a bunch of connected sketches that tell the story. This actually works pretty good for the movie, although some of the scenes could have used some tighter editing.
This movie was produced for cheap, and unfortuanetly, it shows. It's not too bad, but at times it can be kind of distracting. Also, first time director Michael DeLorenzo doesn't always seem to know what he's doing. A bigger budget and different director might have helped make the movie great, instead of just pretty good. The only other problem I had was that Jim J. Bullock's role was too small! You can never have too much Jim J.! (Although he is responsible for one of the movie's biggest laughs near the end!)
The DVD is again released by National Lampoon and distributed by Arts Alliance America. Special features are the widescreen version (1.85:1); commentary by John Melendez and Michael DeLorenzo; some pretty funny bloopers; a short photo gallery; and trailers for the next three Lampoon movies to hit DVD,
Bagboy,
Electric Apricot, and
Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell. My only complaint with the DVD is the package art. It looks cheap, and just like on
Jake's Booty Call, it lists all the special features and then says "And Much More!" No, there isn't! That's all the special features there are!! It's a minor thing, but it annoys me when companies lie like that!
If you're looking for a movie that is different from the usual (and the usual Lampoon movies), with some real laugh-out-loud moments, then check out
National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many.
