Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie
Rated PG-13 for some crude and sex-related humor.
reviewed by Christopher Lyon
The last year or two have brought us several stand-up comedy movies. It makes sense. It’s got to be cheap to make the film. If they sell even a few tickets, there’s money to be made. Usually, the idea is to capture one or a group of better-known comedians on tour somewhere. With “Blue Collar,” you get four self-described redneck comedians.
The Story
Okay, there’s not really a story. Instead, there are lots and lots of jokes, mostly focusing on rural southern humor or family relationships. “Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie” is basically a stand-up show in Phoenix, featuring Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy. Foxworthy and Engvall were the only two I’d actually heard of before.
The four stand-up routines are broken up by clips of the guys hanging out together at malls and flea markets being silly. The show ends with the four on stage together “riffing” by telling stories and playing off each other’s brands of humor.
The Verdict
I thought about 30 percent of the movie was funny. I’m guessing it gets funnier the farther south you go or the farther you move away from a major metropolitan area. The focus of the show is definitely on backwoods or redneck humor, with the rest being rounded out by stories about being married or having kids.
Larry the Cable Guy tells stories about his backwoods family, including his mole-covered sister. Ron White talks about being a drunk guy from Texas. Bill Engvall talks about his wife and kids. And, of course, Foxworthy talks about his extended redneck family. He includes some new and classic redneck jokes in the show.
There’s a ton of crude and sexual humor, as well as jokes about being drunk or excessive drinking (mostly from Ron White). The bulk of the comedy seems designed for middle-aged people who enjoy NASCAR and country music. I’m not sure how many teens will dig it.
“Blue Collar” didn’t “feel” like a movie to me. Instead, it felt like it should be an HBO special or something you might see on stage in Branson, Missouri. It also bugged me that they would cut to shots of the audience laughing after the comedians would tell a joke. It felt forced, and I wondered if the shot was actually of someone laughing at the joke that had just been told.
Worldview
Um. The film seems to be saying that rednecks are funny because they’re kinda dumb, but they’re also good people—and that we all have a little redneck in us.
Okay.
Discussion Questions
• Who are some of your favorite stand-up comics?
• Do you think comedians have to be crude to be funny? Why or why not?
• Of these four, which did you think was funniest?
• What are some things that are really funny to you? Why do you think they make you laugh?
Let us know what you thought of this review!
