THE MACHINE (2023)

We've seen the viral stand-up time and time again from Bert Kreischer and it appears he will be milking a single story until the teats are completely depleted of material. It's a great story and Bert relies so much on his story telling with his sense of humour that it was only a matter of time before he turned his famous story about joining the Russian Mafia on a field trip and robbing his classmates on a train. It's a remarkable story, but it was going to be interesting to see how Bert was able to turn a 5 minute stand-up routine into a 90 minute feature film. The expectations were low for this one, but I can safely say, I was pleasantly surprised.

It was a nice action comedy, with a great cast, amazing sets, well shot, and the writing wasn't half bad. What I am coming to realise though is that Mark Hamill can't act, we give him way too much credit for one character he played forty years ago that everything he has done since he has been mediocre in at best. Pair him alongside Bert Kreischer, a comedian with no acting ability and you are left with some poor scenes where other cast members are trying to elevate the scene to a respectable level.

I think because the film isn't universally loved, that this may have crushed Bert's ego just a little bit, but he shouldn't be discouraged, I'd love to see more and more from Bert moving forwards because with some practice behind his writing and his ability to tell a story he could write and produce some great comedies moving forward. Great first effort but I can't go any higher than what I have with this one. It was fine, but it'll sit in the same level as the Beerfest's and Dude, Where's My Car level. Great production, it looked like a high budget film, but it just didn't quite get there for me.

Rating: 🍿🍿🍿