Review: FRED: THE MOVIE (2010)

Starring: Lucas Cruikshank, Jennette McCurdy, Pixie Lott, John Cena, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Jake Weary as Kevin.

Directed by: Clay Weiner

Genre: Comedy; Kids

Color

First Time I Saw It: Last night; September 18th, 2010.

Synopsis: Teenage geek vies for the affection of a hot girl, and is finally accepted by his peers, after throwing a party, and posting a video of it online.

Trivia: This is not a made for TV movie. Nickelodeon bought the rights to air it.

It will be released on DVD, October 5th.

Based on the original characters and web-series, created by Fred himself, Lucas Cruikshank, one of the most popular and watched YouTube stars ever.

Like a lot of parents, all I heard for a straight month was, "Mommy, I can't wait for FRED: THE MOVIE!!"

My daughter loves Fred Figglehorn. Thanks to iCarly, her favorite TV show, we were first introduced to Fred, the fictional character, and his real-life alter-ego, seventeen year old web-star, Lucas Cruikshank, by way of his guest appearance.

I thought, "Is this an actual web-show? Or is it fiction, created for iCarly?"

Searched it on YouTube, and sure enough, the Fred videos were real, with millions upon millions of views, on each entry in the series.

Fred Figglehorn, a six year old kid, with an alcoholic mother, an absent father, a creepy stalker's crush on a girl named Judy, a massive hatred for a boy named Kevin, and a friendship with an equally-dysfunctional girl named Bertha.

Now, the movie is different from the web-show, because we actually get to see these characters.

The biggest change? Fred is not six years old anymore. He's fifteen. Plus, he's lost his trademark 'Fred' t-shirt in favor of strips and suspenders, and his infamous shrill voice is now at a slightly lower (though slightly more obnoxious) pitch, due to Fred's increase in age.

I was most interested to finally meet Fred's crush, Judy, as an actual person, played by a gorgeous young singer from England: Pixie Lott.

Her accent sounded Australian to me, but Fred kept referring to it as a Southern accent. Of course Fred's not too bright. And thanks to his delusional sense of reality, there are several scenes in the film not actually taking place. We are merely witnessing Fred's fantasy world, where Judy is interested, Fred's father is present -- and is big and buff! played by John Cena -- and Fred is cool, sings, etc.

He even invents his own mentor -- also played by Cruikshank -- the imaginary 'Derf'.

Derf is Fred spelled backwards. ~ What Fred can't have in reality, he creates in his mind.

Think FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF meets NAPOLEON DYNAMITE -- if Ferris were a dork, and Napoleon hyper and attractive.

Cruikshank narrates his story, and if you're not accustomed to Fred's voice, I imagine you'll want to throw rocks at your TV, and immediately sit your kids down with a copy of a 1930s Marx Bros. film, just so they'll know true comedy, and not be disillusioned by the questionable antics of a popular web-star.

I understand. ;)

But it is funny. Not a classic, of course. But I love the first two seasons of the web-show, so I enjoyed it.

And my daughter? She laughed almost constantly!

Despite its G rating for TV -- my DVR rates it as "Iffy for 10+" -- FRED: THE MOVIE does contain the occasional risque joke, and splash of off-color humor. For instance, Fred is running, screaming, and stops suddenly atop a dam, and says, "Dam." Not damn. But it's funny to hear him say it, regardless; this sweet momma's boy, whose standard range of profanity is limited to the homemade cusswords of hackin' and gammit.

Another example: Fred is outside, fixing to jump on a trampoline, in an effort to visit hot girl-next-door, Judy, and says:

"I've never even seen Judy's backdoor. But I bet it's really nice."

-- Sure, Fred; the backdoor of her house.

There's also some implied drinking, and weed-smoking, in the final party scene, but it's subtle, because the characters are only pretending to drink and smoke weed, to make the video of the staged party more impressive.

Before the party, Fred even says, "[...] and we're gonna do a lot of illegal stuff. Kids our age can't do it, but we're gonna do it, anyway."

Fred's mother in the film, does drink openly.

-- On the web-show, she also 'works the corners', and his father's on death row.

Stuff the kids won't catch, or understand, is always fun, but I could have done without the gross-out scenes, and potty humor. Even my daughter admitted, "The Fred movie was pretty good. I just didn't like all the fake vomit."

Ha. When a first grader declares a film has too much fake vomit, you KNOW it has too much fake vomit.

And there was too much nastiness in general. I literally had to turn my head as Fred ate a fly, stuffed himself full of sardines, threw-up on Judy, etc. Without the immature flourishes, FRED: THE MOVIE could have been a lot better.

In one of my favorite scenes, Fred imagines himself at Judy's house, and she's sitting on the floor with a handheld vacuum cleaner, crying. A modern Cinderella, greeted by her Prince not-so-charming, who comes bearing the gift of a pet 'squirrel' (a Pomeranian) and the two sit fireside, singing.

The other female lead in the cast is Bertha, played by Jennette McCurdy ('Sam', of iCarly fame). She's kinda weird in this one. A perfect match, though, for Fred, so I figured it would go the way of SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL. Instead, they opted for the PRETTY IN PINK ending.

Again, my daughter nailed it. "I think Fred should have picked Bertha. They make a better couple."

Yep. But I'm sure original Fred, the six year old, would be delighted to know, nine years later, he finally wins the heart of his beloved Judy.

To gain her love, and impress all his schoolmates, Fred hands out party invitations to over a hundred people, all reading, 'You are NOT invited'. He and Bertha then stage a party, video-tape it, and upload the video online to the fictional YouTube equivalent, BlueTube.

-- In the movie, Fred calls the site, BlueTube, but you can clearly see, at the top of his computer screen, most of the YouTube logo.

I enjoyed the montage where they're making the video, more than the video itself.

Both are fun, especially the music, and if you watch 'em in slow motion.

I did notice, during my second viewing of the party video, as I paused it to take pictures: there's a bit of an upskirting of Jennette McCurdy! She's wearing a short party dress, and spins around RIGHT in front of the camera.

Yep. Pretty G-rated stuff, huh, Nickelodeon? Flashing a teenage girl's butt.

There's also a scene where Fred is in a laundromat, stripped down to his skimpy underwear. Which I thought strange, considering the boy is HOT, yes, but still underage.

Cruikshank was only sixteen at the time of filming.

A good time to mention the mothers in this film! I'm pretty sure arch-nemesis Kevin's mother was played by the chick from the Progressive Auto-Insurance commercials.

-- Yep, just looked it up. Stephanie Courtney.

And Fred's mother looked so familiar to me. I kept thinking, "She's either from an 80s movie, or a former cast-member of Saturday Night Live."

Turns out it was the latter. Siobhan Fallon Hogan. Plus, she played Elaine's roommate on Seinfeld. Remember? The one Kramer frolicked with, then hurt themselves on the glass-top coffee table.

-- Two of my past obsessions: SNL (1970s through '90s) and Seinfeld.

So if you're familiar with the original Fred videos, I think you'll be more amused than those who've never watched the web-series.

And if you're already a big fan of Fred, then great! Enjoy his starring effort. Because who knows: in a few years, Cruikshank may go the way of most young actors, drift into obscurity, and grace nothing more than your fond, occasional memories of his videos on YouTube.

Or, he'll be a multi-millionaire, and you can see him in FRED: THE SEQUEL.

...

Cute, but not always pleasant.

**1/2(stars)

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