Originally published in Verbicide issue #14

Kung Fu Films
86 minutes, dir. by Joe Escalante with Warren Fitzgerald, Pam Gidley, and Sheila Platte

Filmed in the same rough, documentary-like style of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or Kevin Smith’s first film, Clerks, comes Cake Boy, an offbeat comedy by Joe Escalante (of the punk band, The Vandals, and Kung-Fu Records). Cake Boy offers an unusual cast of characters and an even more absurd storyline that isn’t quite like anything you have seen before. Being incredibly unique and oftentimes richly bizarre, Cake Boy seems to land in the exact middle of the film quality spectrum. The pros and cons are both so equal in quantity and magnitude that most viewers will walk away not knowing exactly what to think of this film as a whole.

Cake Boy stars the film’s writer, Warren Fitzgerald (guitarist, The Vandals), as a down-on-his-luck erotic cake baker, Selwyn Hillis. Selwyn once had great dreams of competing against the best bakers of France, but his goals were put on an indefinite hiatus by his abusive girlfriend, Becky (Pam Gidley). When her constant screaming and beatings reach dangerous levels, Selwyn finds an opportunity to escape with current punk rock superstars, No Use For A Name (playing themselves). As their roadie, Selwyn endures even more relentless humiliation until the band ditches him on the side of the interstate. Without a clue, a plan, or even shoes, Selwyn meets a wheelchair-bound beauty (Sheila Platte) who turns out to be just what Selwyn needs to believe in himself.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Although it wasn’t the worst I’ve seen, Cake Boy‘s caliber of acting was very close to rock bottom. It’s obvious that Fitzgerald was really trying his best, but far too many important lines were delivered with deadpan emotion that too closely resembled my old high school peers reading Shakespeare out loud in class. It’s really a shame considering Fitzgerald wrote a brilliant script only to have it butchered, ironically, by himself. And no matter what your opinion may be of the music of NUFAN, if their musical talents matched their acting skills, their fan base would be absolute zero. I’m all for a cameo, but if you’re going to devote almost half the movie to it, you’d better make sure he/she/they can act. At least the band does a good job supporting the majority of the film’s soundtrack which is included with the DVD and also features the likes of Ozma and Yellowcard.

However, despite painful performances from those like Scott Aukerman who plays No Use’s band manager, there are enough finely skilled actors to keep a viewer’s attention. Both female leads are very impressive; Gidley’s portrayal of a bipolar lunatic girlfriend is dead on (and one of the film’s funniest characters) while Platte’s quadriplegic sweetheart routine can’t help but bring a smile to your face. Also, Cake Boy is not without its share of familiar faces which include Patton Oswald (“King of Queens”), Bob Odenkirk (“Mr. Show”) and Kyle Gass (guy who isn’t Jack Black in Tenacious D). Each of these celebrities bring memorable roles to the film and will have you laughing at loud. One can’t help but wonder why Escalante would compile many of his main roles with mediocre talent when his supporting cast was of such fine actors.

The other really diminishing flaw of Cake Boy is the camera work. It seems the cameraman was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, as he could not keep the camera from shaking in many shots of the film. At times the incessant trembling is enough to give you motion sickness and ask yourself, “Couldn’t they have afforded a tripod?” Shoddy, quick zooms that look like home videos when you handed the camcorder over to your little cousin do not compliment the film either. As strange as it is though, the obvious amateur filmmaking gives the movie an independent charm that seems to be entirely appropriate for the style of movie. After watching the “making of” portion of the special features (which was actually my favorite part of this whole DVD), you’ll probably view the film in a different light. Escalante’s solo effort is so inspiring and honest that Cake Boy becomes near impossible to criticize after witnessing the director’s hard work and determination that a struggling garage band playing to audiences of five might relate to. As Escalante says, when commenting on being both the photographer and editor, “As bad as you think the movie is, it’s going to have the best takes every time.”

I suppose the most important thing to remember when watching Cake Boy is to realize what it really is: a punk rock film by an actual punk rocker made for a punk rock audience. My problem may be that I am too far from this demographic but I know a lot of people out there who will dig this movie. So if you’re looking for a safe, well-funded “independent” comedy, I’d say stick to the MTV-backed Napoleon Dynamite. But if low budget laughs and pure honest filmmaking is what you crave, serve yourself a helping of Cake Boy. Chances are you’ll be wanting seconds.