Dude, Where's My Car?
| Dude, Where's My Car? | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Danny Leiner |
| Written by | Philip Stark |
| Produced by | Gil Netter |
| Starring | Ashton Kutcher Seann William Scott Jennifer Garner Marla Sokoloff Kristy Swanson Hal Sparks |
| Cinematography | Robert M. Stevens |
| Edited by | Kimberly Ray |
| Music by | David Kitay |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date | December 15, 2000 |
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million[1] |
| Box office | $73,180,723[2] |
Dude, Where's My Car? is a 2000 American stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner. The film stars Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two young men who find themselves unable to remember where they parked their vehicle after a night of recklessness.
Although panned by critics and just a modest box-office success, it managed to achieve a cult status, Mostly driven by fans of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (which Leiner also directed) and following its home video release appreciated for its "so bad it's good" humor. The film's title is the source of statements in pop culture since its release.
Plot
Jesse Montgomery III (Ashton Kutcher) and Chester Greenburg (Seann William Scott) are two slackers who wake up at Jesse's house, hung over and with no memory of the day before. Their refrigerator is filled with chocolate pudding, and the answering machine contains an angry message from their twin girlfriends, Wanda (Jennifer Garner) and Wilma (Marla Sokoloff), as to their whereabouts. They go outside only to find Jesse's yellow 1984 Renault Le Car missing, and with it their girlfriends' anniversary presents. This prompts Jesse to ask: "Dude, where's my car?" Chester replies, "Where's your car, dude?"
Because the twins have promised them a "special treat", which Jesse and Chester hope is sex, the men are desperate to find the car. The duo retrace their steps to discover just where they left the car. Along the way, they encounter an angry transgender stripper (Teressa Tunney), a belligerent Chinese drive-thru speaker operator (voice of Freda Foh Shen), discover two cool tattoos on each other's backs, run into a group of UFO cultists led by Zoltan (Hal Sparks), a Chinese tailor (Keone Young), the Zen-minded Nelson (David Herman) and his cannabis-loving dog, the jock Tommy (Charlie O'Connell) and his musclehead friends, Tommy's girlfriend Christie Boner (Kristy Swanson), a couple of police detectives, and an ostrich farmer named Pierre (Brent Spiner). The protagonists then meet two races of aliens, one group being five gorgeous women wearing skintight black jumpsuits (Mitzi Martin, Nichole M. Hiltz, Linda Kim, Mia Trudeau, and Kim Marie Johnson), the other being a pair of Nordic men wearing workout clothes (Christian Middelthon and David W. Bannick). Both groups are searching for the "Continuum Transfunctioner", a powerful device (something that the protagonists are reminded of continuously throughout the film). The "Continuum Transfunctioner" is capable of destroying the universe. They are kidnapped by the Cultists and introduced to Zoltan who reveals they have Wanda and Wilma hostage (bound and gagged with bubble wrap) and told to get them the "Continuum Transfunctioner" or they will die. Jesse and Chester tell the girls they can count on them (causing them to groan through their gags).
An Animal Planet show then provides a helpful clue, though Jesse and Chester do not know it at the time— about how animals use tools, animals 'often use sticks as crude tools'. In an arcade, they discover that the Continuum Transfunctioner was a Rubik's Cube that Chester has been working hard to solve during most of the movie. When he does, it becomes activated. Once the five lights on it stop flashing, the universe will be destroyed.
Jesse and Chester must figure out which of two alien groups should get the device. One group protects the universe, while the other wants to destroy it. Both claim to be the protectors and claim that they were with Jesse and Chester the previous night. The two choose the Nordic men, because when asked what the two stoners did the night before, they correctly answered that the boys got a hole-in-one at the 18th hole at a miniature golf park, winning a lifetime supply of pudding. At the last second, the Nords deactivate the Transfunctioner, saving the universe.
Angered, the five alien women merge to become, what Chester calls a "Super Hot Giant Alien" (Jodi Ann Paterson). Tommy is then promptly eaten alive by the giant woman (cut from the film is Tommy asking her if she spit or swallows, which is why she devoured him). After witnessing her boyfriend's apparent death Christie reacts with indifference. The protectors intervene, attempting to banish her to Hoboken, but are knocked out. The giantess crawls out of the amusement center and chases Jesse and Chester. The cultists tell them to activate the Photon Accelerator Annihilation Beam on the Transfunctioner. However, the button that activates it is too far in to reach. At the last second, Chester remembers the nature show with the tool-using chimps and uses a "crazy straw" to push the recessed button, thus destroying the alien and causing Tommy to fall out where Christie admits that she is now in love with Nelson. The two protectors erase everyone's minds concerning the events and time is reversed to the beginning of the film.
The events come full circle as Jesse and Chester wake up with no memory of what happened to them much like the beginning of the film. However, they recover the car, which turned out to be hidden behind a double-parked mail truck the whole time, and salvage their relationships and discover the special treat from the girls turns out to be matching knitted caps and scarves. The protectors leave a gift for their girlfriends (and, indirectly, for the two young men): Breast Enhancement Necklaces. The film ends with Jesse, Chester and their girlfriends driving off in the car arguing over what the tattoos on the latter's backs say.
Cast
- Ashton Kutcher as Jesse Montgomery III
- Seann William Scott as Chester Greenburg
- Jennifer Garner as Wanda
- Marla Sokoloff as Wilma
- Kristy Swanson as Christie Boner
- David Herman as Nelson
- Hal Sparks as Zoltan
- Charlie O'Connell as Tommy
- John Toles-Bey as Mr. Pizzacoli
- James Vincent as Jeff
- Jodi Ann Paterson as Super Hot Giant Alien
- Freda Foh Shen as Chinese Foooood Voice
- Bill Chott as Big Cult Guard
- Teressa Tunney as Tania
- Christian Middelthon and David W. Bannick as Alien Nordic Dudes
- Keone Young as Mr. Li
- Fabio as Himself
- Mitzi Martin, Nichole M. Hiltz, Linda Kim, Mia Trudeau, and Kimmarie Johnson (Kim Marie Johnson) as Alien Jumpsuit Chicks
- Mary Lynn Rajskub as Zelmina
- Pat Finn as Officer Rick
- Brent Spiner (uncredited) as Pierre
- Andy Dick (uncredited) as Mark
- Joyce Giraud (uncredited) as girl in car with Fabio
- Erik Aude (Uncredited) Stunt guy
Release
Critical reception
Critical reception of the film was poor. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 18% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 55 reviews with the consensus that "the movie isn't funny, the plot is too thin, and the production values feel more like a TV sitcom."[3] The review aggregator Metacritic gave the film a score of 30, based on 17 reviews.[4] The BBC Film review gave it 1 star, calling the film "a lame-brained travesty" and "intensely irritating" and Kutcher and Scott's routines "painfully unamusing".[5] The Austin Chronicle concluded, "Dude, Your Movie Sucks". USA Today said: "Any civilization that can produce a movie this stupid probably deserves to be hit by famine and pestilence." The Chicago Tribune said: "At the end of 83 unmerciful minutes, audiences will be exclaiming, 'Dude, I can't believe I sat through that movie!?'" and the New York Post said that it was: "An almost chuckle-free mess, so amateurish and lame that the cast often has that embarrassed look you see on dogs given ridiculous haircuts."[4] However, the New York News did praise the "surprisingly sweet-natured pairing" of Kutcher and Scott.[6]
Box office
Despite the poor critical reception, the film opened at #2 at the North American box office making $13,845,914 USD in its opening weekend behind What Women Want, which opened at the top spot. The opening of Dude just barely beat How the Grinch Stole Christmas's fifth weekend by about $40,000.[7]
Home media
The DVD was released on June 26, 2001 with 7 deleted and extended scenes, an audio commentary with Kutcher, Scott, and Leiner, a behind-the-scenes featurette, the music video for Grand Theft Audio's "Stoopid Ass", TV spots, and the theatrical trailer.
On TV in the USA, when Jesse and Chester first see Christie Boner, they say her name, but when they get to "Bon-", the words are cut and the shot moves to Christie.[8]
Legacy
Dude, Where's My Car? is referenced widely in many different situations. Some examples are listed below.
Author and filmmaker Michael Moore published a book titled Dude, Where's My Country?, criticizing the United States' response to 9/11 .
At a 2005 Philadelphia 76ers game, then 76er Kyle Korver quoted the movie for a contest where fans guessed the movie a 76ers player was quoting. It referenced Korver's resemblance to Ashton Kutcher.
In 2012, the Pittsburgh Pirates started using the "Zoltan" hand signal from the movie as a way for players to congratulate their teammates after an accomplishment such as a home run or a double play. The habit started after the Pirates (in particular Neil Walker) were watching Dude, Where's My Car? in the visiting clubhouse at Turner Field in Atlanta during an April 2012 weekend series against the Atlanta Braves.[9] After a Twitter campaign to encourage the "real" Zoltan to appear at a game, Hal Sparks flew to Pittsburgh on July 25, 2012 to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and was on hand to see the Pirates win 3-2 over his hometown team, the Chicago Cubs. Also there to support the team was Hal's girlfriend, Summer Soltis, whose family is from the area and are Pirates fans themselves.[10] Despite picking up a cult following in Pittsburgh[11] and helping the team contend in the playoff race well into September, the Pirates finished with a 79-83 record, extending their major North American professional sports record to 20 consecutive losing seasons.
On April 10, 2014, in Season 11 Episode 19 of "Two and a Half Men" Walden (Ashton Kutcher) tells Vivian that he had walked four miles into the woods to find her. She picks up the car keys and clicks the horn and flashes the lights (the car is only feet away) and says, "Dude, there's your car!"
On May 1, 2014, in Season 11 Episode 21 of "Two and a Half Men" Walden (Ashton Kutcher) found his first car via a website that locates old cars called "Dude, Where's My Car?"
Soundtrack
References
- ^ Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) - Box office / business
- ^ "Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)". Box Office Mojo. 2002-08-28. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes. "Dude, Where's MyCar".
- ^ a b Metacritic. "Dude, Where's My Car".
- ^ BBC Films. "Dude, Where's My Car".
- ^ New York News. "Dude, Where's My Car". Daily News.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for December 15–17, 2000". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- ^ Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) - Alternate versions
- ^ Majors, Dan (July 4, 2012). "Dude, what's the 'Z'? Pirates explain - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ Majors, Dan (2012-07-26). "Actor who played Zoltan on hand for Pirates win". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ Majors, Dan (July 4, 2012). "The Pirates believe in the power of Zoltan - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
