Universal Pictures
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the bar for musical mockumentaries was set high with offerings such as All You Need Is Cash and This Is Spinal Tap. Former Saturday Night Live favorite Andy Samberg has decided to tap into the musical mockumentary market with Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, the latest release from Judd Apatow and Universal Pictures. Along with his pals Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone (who with Samberg form the comedic trio known as The Lonely Island), Samberg co-stars, co-wrote, co-produced and co-directed the roughly 90-minute mockumentary which chronicles the rise and fall of fictional white rapper Conner4Real (Samberg).
The Lonely Island has an illustrious history of writing songs together – they were the brainpower behind many memorable “SNL Digital Shorts” over a decade ago, including “Lazy Sunday,” “Dick in a Box,” “I’m on a Boat,” and “I Just Had Sex.” In the grand tradition of Spinal Tap, their songs are not for the easily offended, as they often contain explicit lyrics. But they’ve developed a loyal following of fans over the years, and I guess the time felt right for them to try to turn their digital shorts into a full-length feature. However, this isn’t their first foray into film. The trio was also responsible for 2007’s surprise hit Hot Rod.
So, what can Lonely Island fans expect from Popstar? A lot of lowbrow humor, several new hilariously explicit over-the-top songs (highlights are “I’m So Humble,” “Equal Rights” and “Bin Laden”), cameos from many prominent music makers in the biz (ranging from the likes of Questlove, Pink, 50 Cent, Adam Levine, Carrie Underwood, Usher, Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey to Ringo Starr, Michael Bolton, Seal and Snoop Dogg) and a whole lot of love from many other former SNL stars, including Tim Meadows, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Hader, Kevin Nealon and Maya Rudolph.
Other cameos you won’t want to miss: Joan Cusack as Conner4Real’s cocaine-snorting, groupie mother, Sarah Silverman as his hardworking publicist, Imogen Poots as his airhead-of-a-girlfriend Ashley Wednesday, the legendary Martin Sheen kicking Conner’s ass and Will Arnett starring in ridiculous spoofs of TMZ as an over-exaggerated Harvey Levin, resplendent with big-ass drinking cups and all. One other special thing to pay attention to is the Universal logo in the opening credits – the music actually slows down like a record running down before restarting with a hip-hop feel that quickly sets the funky tone for the movie.
Like many other pop stars before him, Conner started out in a group before becoming a solo sensation. Along with Owen (Taccone) and Lawrence (Schaffer), he was just one-third of The Style Boyz, a white trio of rappers reminiscent of The Beastie Boys in their genius heyday. Similar to the real-life story of The Lonely Island, the trio met when they were just kids and were making mad beats by the time they were teens. But in a tale as old as time, The Style Boyz broke up after Conner and Lawrence had a friendship-ending feud over egos and who should’ve received the credit that earned Conner his first prestigious Poppy Award. While Lawrence went his separate way to become a farmer in Colorado, the ever-loyal Owen decided to remain with Conner, serving as his DJ and coming up with the beats on his first solo album, which was an overnight success with the fans and critics alike.
In this mockumentary, the cameras follow Conner4Real as he debuts his sophomoric album “Connquest” and the impending tour to promote it. Much to Conner’s confusion, the critics hate his new album (Rolling Stone gave it a poop emoji out of their traditional four star ratings system) and he goes from selling millions of copies of an album to something like 60,000 in the first week. Worse yet, his tour is in jeopardy, as his sponsors decide to pull out and his fans stop buying albums and tickets. His manager Harry (Meadows) singlehandedly saves the tour by adding an up-and-coming, rather intense rapper/prankster named Hunter (Chris Redd). Naturally, Conner’s “humble” ego suffers under the criticism. Ultimately, Conner realizes who his real friends in the business are and they aren’t the “yes men” he has surrounded himself with since the break-up of The Style Boyz.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping takes Samberg’s signature brand of silly humor and attempts to elevate him to pop star status in the comedic world. At times, it works well, while at other times, I was left shaking my head in disbelief. My favorite parts involved the well-placed, always hilarious Justin Timberlake, and Bill Hader as Conner’s roadie who has an obsession with flat-lining like it’s a thing all the kids are regularly doing as a hobby these days.
If you’ve been a Lonely Island fan from the get-go or if you’re somebody who appreciates a satire of the music industry, you’re probably going to find plenty to laugh about in this mockumentary. If you can’t appreciate an occasional lowbrow comedy for what it is, then this movie is definitely not for you. I’m still a little on the fence about it … I think ultimately my advice is to wait for this to hit the cheapie theaters or Netflix. At 90 minutes, it felt a little short for a full-length feature, but it also felt a little long for Lonely Island’s digital short antics. It’s worth a watch, but maybe not at full price plus the cost of concessions. It’s funny but in a stupid kind of way that you may not want to admit to yourself or others around the proverbial water cooler the next day.
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