“Pizza Movie” follows high college students who face an unexpected journey when they must navigate two flights of stairs to retrieve their pizza delivery.
A Stupid Premise That Knows It
The early stages of “Pizza Movie” do a solid job of establishing the film’s tone. It’s stupid. And by design. Every aspect of the movie is exaggerated, including the characters and the plot itself.
“Pizza Movie” spells out its narrative early on. It lays out the steps the film will follow and never strays far from them. This makes it feel safe at times while also drifting far into the realm of weirdness. There are exploding heads, monsters, hazy visuals and more. We’ve seen this story before — but “Pizza Movie” has so much fun with it that it’s hard not to get sucked in.
With each new “phase,” the film reminds the audience where they are in the journey. It’s the epitome of a “straight-to-streaming” movie, but… it at least manages to be an entertaining (and even good) one.
Style, Effects and Controlled Chaos
Surprisingly, “Pizza Movie” has a number of technical achievements. The blending of practical effects and CGI is one of them. It may sound odd, but the film is full of visual effects — and many of them are impressive. Time and time again, it ups the ante, implementing new obstacles for the characters to pass. Many of these use effects to enhance the “trippy” and distorted aesthetic the film goes for.
“Pizza Movie” also implements puppet visuals for flashbacks and backstory, adding another layer of uniqueness. Add in Bella Gonzales’ cinematography and Matt McBrayer’s editing, both of which generate extra levels of style. The camera is constantly moving, the colors are always changing and the cuts are consistently energetic.
An abundance of comedy is present as well. “Pizza Movie” relies on unpredictability for laughs, and it largely works. The film has a way of consistently surprising, with the absurdity of it all generating hilarious moments in the process.
“We can say c–t but we can’t say crimble sauce.”
Repetitive Beats With Enough Charm
There is some heart within the madness. “Pizza Movie” centers on friendship, while also functioning as a coming-of-age story about discovering identity in college. It has moments where it pulls back from the comedy to focus on character interactions. This adds much-needed weight to a 92-minute runtime that can grow repetitive.
The synopsis doesn’t lie: “Pizza Movie” is really just about getting a pizza. It’s not complicated. Nor does it need to be. But it can get tedious, as it sometimes seems like the story isn’t going anywhere. Especially as the final act unfolds, it starts to feel like “been there, done that.”
With that said, it still finds ways to be inventive. This is a “stoner” comedy with surprising twists up its sleeve, making it more memorable than similar entries in the genre.
Directors Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher are very aware of all this. It’s a meta, self-referential movie that knows its silliness. Even when it veers too far into wacky territory, this confidence helps it come across as cohesive.
Gaten Matarazzo (Jack) and Sean Giambrone (Montgomery) are strong fits for the lead roles. Matarazzo brings his usual energy, fitting the nerdy college persona well. Giambrone has a bit more bite, with a very articulated delivery that contrasts nicely with Matarazzo’s messiness.
Lulu Wilson (Lizzy), Caleb Hearon (Sidney), Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Ashley) and Jack Martin (Blake) round out the supporting cast. Martin is the most memorable of the group, delivering line after line of over-the-top, manic dialogue.
“Pizza Movie” is predictable while also being wildly not. It takes the “stoner” comedy genre to another level, elevating a basic premise into an entertaining roller coaster ride.
Rating: 3 out of 5
