Usually when I think of the types of films that play the Tribeca Film Festival, including the midnight films, raunchy, direct-to-DVD-type comedies don’t usually come to mind as titles you’d expect to find among their extensive slate of independent films. Well my friends, this year sees the inclusion of one such film, a comedy directed by Andrew Disney titled Intramural, a hilarious and satirical sports movie that has the look of Netflix “raunchy comedy” garbage when it initially starts but, surprisingly, manages to surprise you within minutes by churning out laugh after laugh. It’s a film that’s already got me telling people to go out and see it as soon as humanly possible.
Intramural follows a fifth year senior named Caleb Fuller (Jake Lacy) who, after giving up the game of intramural football after a glorious yet devastating victory in the championship game freshman year, must decide what’s more important to him, reuniting with his former teammates for another shot at the title or accepting that it’s time to grow up, find a job and focus on his upcoming marriage. Realizing that he should no longer just focus on the unfortunate paralysis of his teammate and best friend Grant Rosenfalis (Nick Kocher), Caleb manages to bring the guys back together in an attempt to return to their former glory, but first they have to defeat their archrivals and reigning intramural champions, the Titans.
Intramural is a spoof on every inspirational sports movie you’ve ever seen, harnessing the power of every cliché you can think of and using it to its advantage in every way possible. It’s the completely self-aware nature of the film that makes it both extremely funny and highly clever. From the return of the grumpy old coach who can to longer play the game, to the asshole captain of the rival team, whose name coincidentally is Dick (Beck Bennett) and who doesn’t have a nice bone in his body, to the typical romantic conflicts and group of ragtag teammates, everything you’ve come to hate in sports movies and recent sport comedies become your favorite things in this film. Andrew Disney manages to take a solid script from screenwriter Bradley Jackson and craft a highly enjoyable movie that could have gone in the exact opposite direction in lesser hands.
This movie was made for people in high school all the way up to those around the age of 35. It’s the people who embrace the ridiculous and over-the-top approach to comedy these days that we find in films like Anchorman. Though I wouldn’t compare this film to that in terms of production value, there are a lot of hilarious one-liners that I guarantee people will remember. In fact, the best film I can compare this to is Sex Drive (the unrated version). If you’ve seen that movie then you understand how surprisingly good/funny it was and why it has garnered such a cult following amongst the young-ins. Intramural is the new Sex Drive and I couldn’t be happier about it and the team behind this film should be proud of their work.
The film features a great cast full of faces you’ll recognize but might not necessarily know their names, which is perfectly ok. This is an awesome case of don’t judge a book by its cover because everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has their moment to shine. Every supporting character, like the stoner commentators, the crazy fiancé, and even random characters that have no business being in the film at all deliver laughs at one point or another, which is rarely the case with second films like this.
While Intramural isn’t perfect, there are a couple of scenes that could easily be cut, it is easy to overlook the negatives when you snap back to reality and realize how ridiculously entertaining the movie actually is. While I clearly am raving about the film (without spoiling the jokes) I do have a few words of caution. Firstly, don’t watch the trailer, it’s better to go into a movie like this knowing nothing, especially when they put a lot of the really good jokes in the trailer (though don’t worry, there are plenty more). Secondly, if you don’t like over-the-top comedy or films like Anchorman or Sex Drive then this film is probably not for you.
Overall, Intramural is by far the most entertaining film I’ve seen at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Maybe it’s because it’s not your typical TFF movie or maybe it’s because in comparison to all the films I’ve seen, this one made me laugh the most and got me away from all the intense dramas and docs that I’ve screened thus far. Either way, it’s a ridiculous, over-the-top film that knows exactly what it’s going for, never taking itself seriously or straying away from the satirical path it’s on.
Rating: A hilarious, clever and self-aware sports spoof that’s officially on its way to the cult comedy status it deserves (7.3/10)
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