POILER: I really enjoyed this film. I have watched several of the documentaries concerning Animal House and Caddyshack and Doug Kenney's name comes up quite often amongst the cast and crew. Chevy Chase and he were really close and Chevy still feels some guilt over leaving Hawaii right before Kenney's death. The man was apparently a comic genius who couldn't escape his childhood baggage.The format is well played with Will Forte as the young Doug and Martin Mull as kind of older, alternate universe Doug, if Kenney had lived, narrating the film. The rest of the cast is well known, playing unknown actors and writers. It took me a second to recognize Natasha Lyonne (American Pie) as Anne Beatts, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911) as Micheal O'Donoghue, and Joel McHale (Community) as Chevy Chase. All of them are covered in 70s hairstyles and McHale does a really good job of mimicking Chase's speech patterns and even his trademark pratfalls.The film excels in showing how Kenney rose from a malcontent to a Harvard grad to a fledgling magazine editor to movie writer. Forte is especially compelling and funny as Kenney. He doesn't quite have the acting range to pull off the downward spiral of the person, but he does an excellent job with the jokes and the other aspects of Kenney's life. Where the film fails is trying to shoehorn too many characters into its 100 minute run time. There is even a humorous scene of older Kenney (Mull) explaining to a bunch of supporting characters that there wasn't enough screen time for all of them so they get ignored. But the film goes to great pains to cram in other famous people such as Gilda Radner, Christopher Guess (Seth Green), Bill Murray, and John Belushi. The actors playing Murray and Belushi came off as actors lampooning (no pun intended) the famous comedians. Belushi was such a huge personality, I doubt anyone could portray him properly in such a short cameo.Another special mention goes out to Emmy Rossum. She is a stunning screen presence and even though her appearance is short, as Kenney's last girlfriend, she lights up the screen. She is a gorgeous actress as well.There is also a fun nod to Animal House with Mark Metcalf (Neidermeyer) portraying a publisher.The movie moves fast through the various periods of Kenney's life, but I think he would have enjoyed it. He comes off as funny, yet troubled, a brilliant comedian, but an emotionally stinted adult. A Futile and Stupid Gesture is anything but. The only thing I would have added, is maybe some post interviews with the actual people portrayed in the movie who knew Kenney, even if they were archival for some (Belushi and Ramis). Still, this was a well-done film.

Going into this I had no idea who Doug Kenny was or about any of his films other than I have heard those in some comedy film lists. So the twist kind of work but like the rest of the film, it was kind of stupid and crazy but ok too. The impression I got from this film is that anything National Lampoon is just flukes and disasters.

This film tells the story of National Lampoon. From a magazine at Harvard to all the films. Really it mostly tells about Doug Kenney. I have seen the films such as Caddyshack, National Lampoons Vacation etc... but did not really know much about the magazine or Doug Kenney. The film has a unique way of telling the story with an old Doug Kenney narrating while you see a young Doug Kenney. The older Doug Kenney not only narrates but comments on the film as well. The ending is sad and unexpected because I really knew nothing about Doug Kenney. I thought it was clever that you have youngish actors playing older actors who were most likely their inspiration. Overall this is a very interesting film that gets your attention from the beginning. I am sure die hard National Lampoon fans will pick it to pieces. But really if you want an interesting, funny and entertaining film then I would definitely pick this. If you know a bit about National Lampoon then it will help to follow the story but to be honest you would enjoy it probably better if you know nothing about it.

The film moves along with a sense of invention and wit, like the supermarket economy version of an Edgar Wright movie, and feels like it might shift up a gear at any moment. But that 'intro' style vibe just kind of continues... right through until Kenney starts to unravel, where it just loses steam and doesn't have much of interest to say. Whereas say, in Fincher's The Social Network the film revolves and relies upon a compelling theme of loyalty's breaking point, or the value of ideas, AFASG's theme seems to never transcend 'hey, some people unravel the more successful they get!' I don't know what it is with these Netflix films, they all seem to be very eager to be impressive and likeable, but without really having a heart and soul. Its like a new genre aimed at people distracted on their phones or something.