Without A Paddle (Full Frame Special Edition) (2004)

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"[W]hen in full swing it's bracing fun....One for the guilty pleasure file." 01/01/2005 p.156

Entertainment Weekly 7 of 10
Without a Paddle sets three childhood pals -- Jerry (Matthew Lillard), Dan (Seth Green), and Tom (Dax Shepard), each developmentally delayed in his own special way -- on a woodsy, ''Goonies''-esque treasure hunt to manhood. They make the usual pit stops (har-har homoeroticism, bears), but the boys' relaxed buddy dynamic lifts the charm quotient above average. There are some genuinely clever moments of physical comedy, and the inevitable crudeness is offset by winning whimsy. Without has all the freshness of moldering Playboys stashed under a mattress, but it evokes what few boys-will-be-boys larks can: chumminess. - Scott Brown
 
Variety 6 of 10
Not entirely the "National Lampoon's Outward Bound" exercise suggested by its trailer, "Without a Paddle" is instead an unstable -- if mostly painless -- mix of low comedy, stabs at higher silliness, and schmaltz. Latter is the same computer-spat sentimentality director Steven Brill previously sandwiched into his chucklesome oeuvre of Adam Sandler vehicles and "The Mighty Ducks" chapters...Home movies of four friends from childhood to high school graduation are shown under the opening credits. Great things are expected of them all, but, 10 years later, that prediction has not panned out. Petite, perennially picked-on Dan (Seth Green) is a doctor, but still dateless and a fraidy cat. Genial Jerry (Matthew Lillard) is so hooked on surfing that he pays dangerously little attention to both a corporate job and live-in girlfriend (Bonnie Somerville). Tactless loudmouth Tom (Dax Shepard) claims he's happily selling Harleys for a living, but has high gambling debts and low self-esteem...A few iffy f/x aside, feature is technically smooth and goes down easily enough but without making much of an impression. Chief flaw is that neither script nor direction find a consistent tone to unite funny references to other movies, coarse jokes, the occasional inspired ones (the wet, naked & gay-panicked trio's having to sleep huddled together for warmth is nicely milked), slapstick action sequences, and earnest emotional displays that beg for some saving layer of irony...Three leads each have their moments, though they would've had more with sparkier material. Reynolds can be a very funny character comedian on demand, so it's too bad he's asked to pretty much play it straight here...Original score by Christophe Beck is blah, but music supervisor Julianne Jordan makes good use of some oldies as well as new tunes. - Dennis Harvey
 
ReelViews 5 of 10
Want to know why Paramount Pictures is struggling? Watch Without a Paddle and you'll gain some insight. At least the film understands what it is, as is indicated by the steaming pile of excrement that appears 2/3 of the way through the proceedings. By then, we don't really need the clue, but it's appreciated. About the only way to make things worse would have been to add Tom Green to the cast...The only thing more ineffective than the desperately unfunny stabs at comedy are the lame "serious" scenes. For some inexplicable reason, director Brill decided that instead of making this a balls-to-the-walls, complete gross-out comedy, he was going to make Without a Paddle a message movie. The message is supposed to be something about living life to the fullest. But really it's about avoiding spending hard-earned money on this turkey. There's a line about how it's possible to re-earn lost money, but lost time is irrecoverable. Anyone considering seeing Without a Paddle should remember that...I thought it was going to be tough figuring out which of the performers does the least cringe-inducing work, until I considered the acting of veteran thespian Bart the Bear. Bart, who is Hollywood's go-to guy when a bear is needed, does a more credible job than any of his human co-stars, which is a damning indictment, to say the least. As for Burt Reynolds' small role - the fact that the one-time A-List celebrity has stooped to appearing in Without a Paddle shows how far his star has fallen...Without a Paddle is so bad that it will annoy and/or bore those who have minimal standards and a high tolerance for sewage. This is such an affront to good cinematic taste that those involved should find themselves unable to work in Hollywood for a long time. - James Berardinelli