With Jim Sabatini

Epic Movie

Rated: PG-13  for crude and sexual humor, language and some comic violence
Reviewed by: Frank
Release date: January 26, 2007	Released by: Regency Pictures

Epic Movie reaches too far and diminishes each segment with many, many parodys of recent films and one old radio joke.

The team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer work at mastering the parody genre with the idea of being proud to be, "first to be second." Relying mostly on the framework of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, unrelated characters Edward (Kal Penn), Peter ( Adam Campbell ), Susan (Faune Chambers ), and Lucy (Jayma Mays) all who are orphans travel through the wardrobe into snow and a fantasy world where The White Bitch (Jennifer Coolidge) rules. She is quickly recognized as Stifler's Mom from American Pie.

Few recent films survive the wide net cast by Friedberg and Seltzer. Look for The Da Vinci Code, Superman Returns, X Men, with Carmen Electra as an alluring blue as Mystique, even a touch of bad food appears from Nacho Libre.

When a closet door, a-la radio's Fibber McGee and Molly, opens everything falls out including a curvy blond, and Fred Willard appears as half man and half lion. The four orphans find gold passes and enter the new world. Edward falls under the spell of the White Bitch - he knows she's Mrs. Stifler; Edward attempts to rule but is a chicken; Susan is practical and Lucy is a delightful idiot.

We go to White Castle and a pregnant Hermione shows up for good measure as does a frozen tongue on a pole from A Christmas Story. One treat is to see Crispin Glover (Back to the Future) as the Wonka character. Tony Cox moves from being the sidekick in Bad Santa to play Bink the assistant to the White Bitch as Captain Jack rolls through on his water wheel.

With too many bright ideas crammed in, the comedy team loses the flow of a story line as the quick constant hopping around loses its audience. Nice try, but less could have been better.