Will Forte
Doug Kenney
A Futile and Stupid Gesture
“Being the King of Comedy is no joke.”
2018
1h 41m
Director: David Wain
Overview
In a life full of triumph and failure, "National Lampoon" co-founder Doug Kenney built a comedy empire, molding pop culture in the 1970s.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Joke Was on Him
I’ve seen A Futile and Stupid Gesture three times now, and each viewing leaves me with the same unsettling aftertaste: laughter that curdles into something heavier, like milk left too long in the sun. It’s a film about Doug Kenney, the man who helped birth National Lampoon and, by extension, much of modern American comedy. But more than that, it’s about the cost of being funny—the way humor can be both a shield and a slow poison.
David Wain’s biopic doesn’t just tell Kenney’s story; it performs it. The film is a hall of mirrors, constantly breaking the fourth wall, rewriting its own script, and winking at the audience like a drunk uncle at a family reunion. It’s meta before meta was cool, or at least before it became a corporate buzzword.
And yet, for all its cleverness, the movie keeps circling back to the same question: What happens when the joke is on you?
Will Forte’s performance is the film’s beating heart, and it’s a masterclass in how to play a man who’s always on. Kenney was the guy who made America laugh at itself in the 1970s, but Forte doesn’t just imitate him—he embodies the exhaustion beneath the grin. There’s a moment early on where Kenney, fresh off a success, turns to the camera and says, “I’m not happy.” It’s delivered with a smile, but Forte’s eyes are dead serious.
That’s the film in a nutshell: a comedy about a man who couldn’t stop performing, even when the act was killing him.
The supporting cast is a who’s-who of comedy nerd Easter eggs. Joel McHale as Chevy Chase, Seth Green as Christopher Guest, Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard—it’s like a National Lampoon reunion where everyone’s playing someone else. Some of these impersonations land better than others (McHale’s Chase is uncanny, while others feel more like impressions than fully realized characters), but the sheer density of jokes and references is dizzying.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.7/10
"A witty, meta biopic that mixes sharp comedy and melancholy with inventive style, but stumbles with uneven pacing and a shallow portrait of its troubled hero."
The movie earns strong praise for its energetic, joke-heavy first half, creative narrative tricks, and a committed performance from Will Forte that balances goofiness with a sadder undercurrent. The large comedic ensemble and nostalgic recreation of National Lampoon–era comedy are often called out as big draws, yet the story loses steam later on, glosses over key parts of Doug Kenney’s life, and can feel one-sided or emotionally underdeveloped. latestnetflix.com's read is that Opinions on the casting of certain comedy icons and the handling of the source material are divided, leading to an overall reception that is positive but not rapturous.
What viewers praise
- Strong lead performance Will Forte’s take on Doug Kenney blends goofy charm with a convincing sense of melancholy and creative frustration.
- Lively ensemble cast A stacked cast playing famous comedy figures adds energy and plenty of small comedic moments, with several supporting turns singled out as especially entertaining.
- Inventive narrative style Frequent use of graphics, skits, fourth-wall breaks, and playful structure keeps the biopic format from feeling routine.
- Genuine laughs and nostalgia The early stretches deliver frequent laugh-out-loud gags and affectionate callbacks that land especially well for those who grew up with National Lampoon and its offshoots.
- Funny yet bittersweet tone The blend of crude humor with a touching, sometimes emotional look at success, burnout, and loss resonates for those drawn to behind-the-scenes comedy stories.
Common complaints
- Second-half pacing issues After a fast, joke-packed opening, the later sections feel baggier and less tightly edited, causing momentum to drop.
- Shallow character exploration Doug Kenney’s inner life and formative past are only sketched in, leaving some feeling that the film never fully digs into what drove or broke him.
- Crowded and confusing cast The sheer number of characters and comedy legends can make it hard to track who is who, especially for those not already versed in the history.
- Divisive casting choices Certain portrayals of real-life comedians, including high-profile impersonations, strike some as miscast or unconvincing.
- Perceived imbalance and bias A few viewers feel the story leans into a one-eyed view of events and side characters, shortchanging other contributors to the Lampoon legacy.
Recommended for
National Lampoon devotees Comedy biopic enthusiasts 1970s pop-culture history buffs Meta and fourth-wall comedy fans Will Forte admirers Dramedies about troubled creatives
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsMartin Mull played a man who never turned 74.
Doug Kenney died in 1980 at 33. His body was found at the bottom of a Hawaii cliff. Glasses and shoes were stacked at the top. In A Futile and Stupid Gesture, Martin Mull is the imagined older Doug, walking the movie and choosing which memories to keep. Sundance.org called that David Wain's framing trick. The film leaves open whether Kenney fell or jumped. latestnetflix.com's view is that Wikipedia records the picture as Mull's last starring role before his death in 2024.
,
Will Forte plays the living Kenney. Domhnall Gleeson is Henry Beard. Joel McHale is Chevy Chase. Emmy Rossum is Kathryn Walker. John Gemberling is John Belushi. Thomas Lennon is Michael O'Donoghue. Seth Green is Christopher Guest. Peter Principato told The Hollywood Reporter they were not hunting look-alikes. "We really wanted to just find people that embodied the spirit of these characters." He said casting was easy because people wanted in. Jonathan Stern picked Animal House if pressed. Principato called it a Sophie's choice, then picked Animal House too. Animal House, Stern noted, was the most profitable comedy until Ghostbusters in 1984.
Sundance on Wednesday. The catalog on Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33dztfqRu_k
World premiere 24 January 2018 in Premieres. Netflix put it up 26 January. Runtime 101 minutes. TMDB lists a $10 million budget and an R rating. Abominable Pictures and Principato-Young Entertainment made it. Ted Sarandos is credited as a producer. Michael Colton and John Aboud wrote it from Josh Karp's 2006 book. The official trailer landed 20 December 2017. , , ,
During Keanu press, Forte told Slashfilm he did not want a cleaned-up Kenney. "It's certainly a difficult thing to go into because it's a tragic story, on many levels." He did not want to pull punches. Owen Gleiberman's Variety review from Park City could not get past Forte's glued-on sideburns. He called the lighting milky-drab. He said Mull even admits the impersonators do not look like Belushi and company, which the movie tries to sell as style. He still called Animal House the most influential comedy of the prior 40 years, a project Kenney spearheaded. Wain, he thought, should have played it as a straighter movie with laughs. , 
The title lifts an Animal House line about a futile and stupid gesture. The movie treats Kenney's death as a joke the narrator hates watching. Food fight at the wake, same gag as Harvard. Netflix still carries it. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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