In the Land of Merry Misfits 1 star
John Waters (narrator), Doug Sherin, Danielle Weeks, Keven Undergaro, Bob Backlund, Randal Malone, Maria Menounos (voice)
Directed by Keven Undergaro
According to the short making-of, it took “one girl and four sausage vendors” 10 years to finish their pet project, one created “by misfits, for misfits.” In that same time, producer Menounos also established a career as a correspondent/host/actress, and it’s those well-connected gigs that seemingly enabled this (literally) all-over-the-map comedy to limp over the finish line at all.
Misfits’ plot is scant and the laughs even scarcer: After genial yuppie Will Best’s car stalls near the secluded town of Bethany, he is recruited by a group of theatrical eccentrics to discover the “Grail of Popularity,” a symbol of respect the outcasts hope to attain from the white-bread, former high-school jocks. A production entitled Santa and Hitler’s Shiny Christmas in July, drug addicts with scoliosis dancing like Michael Jackson, au naturel paintball players and lines like, “Shut up, you androgynous cow!” provide the humor.
Along with nods to Revenge of the Nerds, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the film also pinches its own narrator’s distinctively colorful sets, flamboyant characters and defiantly nonsensical action. Though the Misfits obviously have heart, not even a cameo by Fred “Rerun” Berry can provide a whit of Waters’ cultural cachet.