At it again and this time Producer Kristin Wiig releases The Spoils Before Dying on DVD, a continuation of a series of campy stories by a would be famous fictional writer Eric Jonrosh (Will Farrell). Two years ago it was Spoils of Babylon that took you into the rich oil lands of Texas. This new six part miniseries offers up a spoof of an old style 1960’s film noir with murder and intrigue. Stick with it, the video gets so silly you will not want to pause it even for a potty break.
It’s the late 1950’s and Jazz has become a waning fancy with Rock’n roll starting to dominate the scene. Smokey night clubs are fading fast, but not yet gone out of style. Just when things are looking up for him, Rock Banyan (Michael Kenneth Williams) a Jazz musician following a night of drinking and pills, gets accused of the murders of jazz diva Fresno Foxglove (Maya Rudolph) and rocket scientist Wilber Stygamian. Not enough to charge him, the police give him three days to clear his name by solving the crime or they will arrest him for the murders.
During his investigation Banyan gets help from jazz singer Delores DeWinter (Kristen Wiig), art collector Kenton Price (Michael Sheen), Dallas Boudreaux (Kate McKinnon) the girlfriend of his sax player Wardell, a friendly ghost, a weird looking cat and county coroner Gary Dunhill (Tim Meadows). When Wardell turns up dead and the police find Banyan with the murder weapon, nothing good can happen for him.
Director Matt Piedmont (Spoils of Babylon, Casa de Mi Padre) continues to surprise with some very funny scenes and old school “paper sets” animation that’s a hoot. Most of the film gives the feel of the noir movies by David Lynch’s Lost Highway and Blue Velvet. He uses the world of Jazz music as his backdrop adapted for the screen by Hal Wilner and original songs composed by Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau.
Keeping it inane yet engaging a whole list of stars participate in cameo roles that pop in to add dialogue needed to keep the movie rolling along. Bar tenders include Tim Robbins and Molly Shannon, then there’s Haley Joel Osmet as Banyan’s manager, Jack Kilmer as a Rock N’ Roll singer, Jimmy Fallon as a detective, Emily O’Hara Ratajkowski a secret agent, and Peter Coyote as the voice of the cat.
The series The Spoils Before Dying runs a total of 2 hours and it moves along at a fast clip. You can easily watch it in one sitting. It does have some drug use, violence and sexual innuendos along with some off color language. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the series as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for adolescents.
FINAL ANALYSIS: For the comical story, good direction and very loose acting, it’s a must see. (B)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Will Ferrell, Michael Kenneth Williams, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph
Directed by: Matt Piedmont
TV Rating: Not Rated, contains violence, drug use, sexuality
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Running Time: 2 hrs. 9 min.
Original TV Release Date: July 8 through July 10, 2015
Video Release Date: June 7, 2016
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
