Set to his theaters and VOD this week from Drafthouse Films is Klown Forever, the sequel to the 2012 outrageous Danish comedy, Klown. The film reunites the writers and stars of the film Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam with the director of the first film, Mikkel Nørgaard, for what can only be described as a continuation of the ridiculous hush-hush outings.
Set approximately five years after their last adventure, Frank has just had a second baby and is now estranged from his famous friend Casper. When Frank discovers that Casper is moving to The States, and does shortly after in order to break into Hollywood, he enters into a depression and decides that the friendship is worth too much for them to be split apart.
Frank sets off for LA to explain to Casper why he shouldn’t have moved and why their relationship is so important. His mission: get Casper to read their friendship book, which is due out on shelves later that year. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan and Casper is eager to have another hush-hush outing, a crazy boy’s night, and a big party, all of which turns into a few days of misadventures for Frank, who just wants to get some trouble-free, relaxed solo time with his friend.
Similar in vein to the first film, Klown Forever generates scattered but powerful laughs. It’s the kind of film that doesn’t have many small giggles consistently throughout but when a joke or, more likely, a gag hits, it hits hard resulting in some glorious suffocating laughter that will have you rolling on the floor. In between those bursting belly laughs, you might get a random chuckle but many times it feels like the duo are trying just a little too hard. Similarly, you wonder how it’s possible for Casper to still be this over-the-top at his age. Don’t get me wrong, I love how outlandish his character’s personality is, I just have never met a guy like him.
I think my favorite part of the film had to be the end. It wasn’t even that funny of a moment but, SPOILER there is a scene where the two buds are celebrating New Year’s in a hospital and Casper wants to have another hush-hush moment with two single nurses. Frank is against it, and rightly so after his wife kicked him out of the house, but eventually he decides to join Caseper. It’s a moment that exemplifies that they are both terrible people, but regardless of his kind demeanor, Frank is so much worse because he just never learns, his experiences have not resulted in any lasting personal changes, which is kind of awesome! Why? Because it rarely happens in movies these days where those that make poor decisions in comedies continue that trend right through to the credits. I don’t’ condone his behavior but I do get a kick out of it. END SPOILER.
While the movie may seem like more of the same from the original, if I were to compare this to The Hangover Part II I’d say this was better overall. It had a few fun surprises sprinkled throughout, cameos you don’t see coming and gags that are somewhat comparable. The music and cinematography might not be as impressive but the acting was on point. The casual, everyday feel of the film gave it a bit more authenticity than something like The Hangover which had a much larger budget and is way more polished. I think it was the everyday look of it that really made the incredibly raunchy humor feel more grounded, real and, most importantly, oddly relatable.
Despite the forced feeling of some of the jokes, I still did enjoy Klown Forever more often than not. My only regret is not watching it with other people, especially ones who would appreciate the humor. The film is perfect for kicking back with a few brews and bros for a mindless debauchery driven adventure and is absolutely worth a watch if you enjoyed the first film.
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