A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018) on Netflix
TV-MA20181h 41mBiographyComedy
Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard turn their Harvard Lampoon work into a monthly magazine, National Lampoon. Kenney writes the comedy, Beard runs the business, and Matty Simmons funds it.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.7/1019,048 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes67%
Trailer
Plot summary
Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard work on The Harvard Lampoon while at Harvard. After graduation, Kenney talks Beard out of law school and into starting a monthly magazine called National Lampoon. Kenney supplies the comic voice and Beard the business sense, and Matty Simmons provides the financing. The staff chases jokes and deadlines in an office where partying and drug use are common. Early issues sell poorly. Complaints and threats of lawsuits arrive from Disney, Volkswagen and Mormon groups, and from other established names. With each new edition the magazine widens what satire and parody can get away with.
Cast
- Morgan Gingerichas Doug - Age 12
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film's poster shows Will Forte as Douglas Kenney with a revolver muzzle pressed to his head and the tagline "If you don't watch this movie, we'll kill Will Forte", echoing an infamous 1973 National Lampoon cover that threatened to kill a dog.
- For Larry Kroger, one of the main protagonists of Animal House, the film used a photo of Paul Rudd, an actor who has appeared in many of director David Wain's projects.
