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| Directed by Jordan Brady; Starring Billy Burke, Lauren Graham, David Koechner, Kathy Griffin, Henry Winkler, Jordan Brady, Jason Priestley, and Peter Berg |
One thing that I often find myself disagreed with is on the matter of one little mockumentary called This is Spinal Tap. Yes I found it to be funny at times, but not the unbelievable laugh riot that some hold it as. Yet I still seem to agree with most of its fans on other mockumentaries, most notably the recent Christopher Guest film Waiting for Guffman about a stage production. Still I expected to be quite unhappy with Dill Scallion when walking in. First of all, everyone has said that it is funny in the same niche as This is Spinal Tap, plus it is about country music, a genre I am far from a fan of. Nevertheless I gave it a try and found myself in quite the enjoyment.
Dill Scallion is a young Texan that dreams of making it big as a country music star in Nashville. A documentary crew follows him around as he tries out at a local bar that may lead to a record contract thanks to none other than country music star Jo Joe Hicks (Priestley). That chance does not really pan out, but he still gets a chance to record a radio jingle for a Nashville record executive (Berg). So he sets off in the school bus he drives during the school year and heads to Nashville, soon to become a well known star of country music with his band called the Dillionaires, fronted by Minnie Pearl relative Bubba Pearl (Koechner). Under their agent Larry Steinberg (Winkler), they cruise their way to the top of the charts and things begin to go to Dill’s head as he finds himself an overpowering girlfriend named Kristie Sue (Graham).
Dill Scallion is at times hilarious in its mockery of the country music business. The songs (many written by Sheryl Crow) often are funnier than entire Adam Sandler films and the sight gags work well. My problem was simply that the film seemed to be trotting old ground. I’ve seen this egotistical famous character a million times whether in film or on Entertainment Tonight. I was a little tired of the Dill and Kristie Sue characters by the half way mark and thought it was time to delve more into Bubba, which they did not do. Yes Dill Scallion is a funny film, but the laughs only go so far (the main Dill song is funny the first time, but rendition number twelve was pushing it). Dill Scallion would have probably been better as a short film ranging in 45 minutes or so, but as a feature, it only works so much.
