Laugh it Up

With the release of Hot Rod today, and Rush Hour 3 and Superbad later this month there will be no shortage of comedies this month. Also, the Simpsons movie and Knocked Up which also supplied a lot of humour thus far means that this is one of the funniest summers I can remember...at least in the theater. These movies are not always loved by the critics and lack a lot of what the art types deam make a movie good. There is often not many complex characters and the interaction and motivation for the various characters is very surface or explained then quickly glossed over. However, this is missing the point, these movies are there to entertain us, give us a laugh, make us not have to think about other things for a while. Perhaps the increase in number of comedies is a sign of the declining nature of our society, the lack of intellectualism in our world, true making someone laugh is not easy and writing a funny, successful movie is no small thing, but writing a though provoking, stimulating movie requires more effort, and careful planning. This is not to take away from comedies such a knocked up which are hilarious the whole way through, and try to at least hit some dramatic notes, but they seem very contrived and like everything is a line...if you are a critic. So for those who put to much thought into these things I say forget about it, go watch the movie, have a good time and realize what you were there for in the first place...to be entertained.