A Futile and Stupid Gesture (film)

The film's timeline stretches from 1964 to 1980. The film opens with Douglas Kenney and his classmate Henry Beard celebrating the release of their book, Bored of the Rings, with the Harvard Lampoon staff. The two men graduate from Harvard and Kenney convinces Beard not to go to law school but instead publish a monthly magazine known as the National Lampoon. Though Kenney is the magazine's main creative voice, there would be no magazine without the guidance of Beard. Kenney becomes the comedy writer and Beard the business manager, while the magazine also has a thriving art department.

The two men get financing from Matty Simmons. All of the writers work hard to be funny and meet deadlines. Work is a party atmosphere and illicit drug use is prevalent. The magazine is not initially a success until lawsuits are threatened by Disney, Volkswagen, Mormons, and many other established names. The comedy world is changed, and the magazine pushes the acceptance of satire and parody with each edition. Occupational burnout is common and Kenney suddenly leaves for nine months with a one-line note to Henry. The magazine stays successful under Beard. After five years Simmons agrees to a buyout and the two men each collect $3.5 million, a request demanded by Henry and Kenney. Henry, unhappy and having been under a great deal of stress, takes his check and immediately exits the magazine.

National Lampoon expands to an hour radio show attracting more great comedians like Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner. But Lorne Michaels buys them all out and signs them over to Saturday Night Live. Special editions of the magazine are published such as one mocking high school yearbooks. Douglas Kenney then moves to movies and writes Animal House starring John Belushi in 1978. With the success of the film, cocaine takes over Kenney's life. As ongoing disputes with studio executives continue, Kenney writes Caddyshack. He does not like his work and embarrasses himself drunk and high at a press conference promoting the film.

Kenny, Beard and Chris Hoffman all sell the National Lampoon to 21st Century Communications. Kenney develops a cocaine addiction, which takes over. Chevy Chase takes Kenney to Hawaii to beat the cocaine, but cocaine wins instead. In 1980, at age 33, Kenney's body is found at the bottom of a Hawaiian cliff (with his eyeglasses and shoes neatly stacked at the edge of the overlook). As he has narrated his life's story through the movie, Kenney is displeased to see everyone sad at his funeral. The movie ends with Beard starting a food fight at his wake (just like there was at the Harvard Lampoon).

Principal photography began in Los Angeles, California on April 14, 2016.[4][5]

A single trailer was released on December 20, 2017.[6] The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 24,[7] and was then released on Netflix on January 26, 2018.[8]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67%, based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "A Futile and Stupid Gesture entertainingly recreates the birth of an influential comedic movement, even if it struggles to cover its creative ground."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]

Writing for TheWrap, Todd Gilchrist opined, "Even if the casting choices in portraying some of iconic talents in Kenney's orbit are occasionally questionable – a detail the film gleefully acknowledges – there's something delightful about watching actors known for comedy now try to capture the sound or energy of the performers who inspired them."[11] Ellin Stein of Slate stated, "There's a sense that the filmmakers have bitten off more than they can chew by trying to cram both the biography and the panoramic overview into one feature."[12]

• A Futile and Stupid Gesture at IMDb