Let's Go to Prison (Bob Odenkirk, 2006)

Despite its incredibly poor showing at the box office this weekend, I really think that Let's Go to Prison deserves a spot in the list of great comedies this year (2006 has really been a stupendous year for comedies). The major film directorial debut of Bob Odenkirk, Mr. Show co-creator and one of my favorite comedians ever (in fact, I think Mr. Show is the best comedy series of all time), and written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (of The State and Reno 911!, both of which are also in my top five comedy series of all time), Prison is the story of John Litshyski (played very ably by Dax Shephard, one of the more underrated comedians working right now), a career felon who decides to take revenge on the (now-deceased) judge who put him in jail by framing his son, Nelson IV (the brilliant Will Arnett), and becoming his cellmate. A ridiculous premise, but who cares: the comedic payoff is gold. Arnett is priceless as the spoiled rich boy who starts off as a real asshole to everyone (including the board of his father's charity, the head of which played by Odenkirk in a great little role) and, through his prison experience, becomes a punching bag for all the other felons, the ruler of the jail, and, eventually, a (relatively) good guy. John is his companion through this all, setting him up to be beat up and raped, selling him for weed and cigarettes to Barry (Chi McBride - seriously, he is becoming a great comedy guy out of nowhere), and eventually fighting him to the death. All the actors are superb in their roles - this (along with Talladega Nights) is one of the best-casted films I've seen in a while. Odenkirk directs Lennon and Garant's script with a real eye for comedy - I doubt many other directors could have milked so much hilarity out of Technotronic's "Move This." This movie is being unfairly marketed as a anal rape joke-fest, a sophmoric comedy about jail. While it is, at times, those things, it is also much more, and I recommend everyone to go see it while you can, if only to support the people who made this movie - I'm afraid that if it doesn't do well box office-wise, our chances to see people like Odenkirk and Arnett on the screen will (tragically) decrease. 9/10 RIYL: Arrested Development (Arnett's character brings to mind GOB Bluth more than once), Mr. Show

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