Douglas Tirola's Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is the most underwhelming documentary I've seen in some time. A teenage fan of the magazine in the 70s, I was hoping that, at the very least, it would capture its' sophomoric humor. Despite the onscreen presence of such funny people as Tony Hendra, Chris Miller, Ann Beatts, Christopher Buckley and PJ O'Rourke, it did not even draw a titter from me. This is bad enough, but the film is extremely superficial in its analysis of the Lampoon's antecedents, its place in the zeitgeist of the 70s, and its influence on the comedy of today.
Part of the problem is that in its focus on the decline and fall of Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney, the documentary has little time to spend on other, equally interesting figures such as Michael O"Donoghue. Also, the brief clips of the theatrical production of National Lampoon Lemmings are far more intriguing than the glimpses of the magazine's artwork and cartoons; which are stupidly animated. A lost opportunity. (8/10/22)
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