MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "FDR: American Badass" (2012)

FDR.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Americans will know him as the thirty-second President of the United States of America, the man who spearheaded a great deal of what the Democratic Party is and stands for today.  In spite of his polio, something that was largely kept from the American public, FDR was a symbol of change and renewal to the American people during the dark times of the Great Depression.  With his Fireside Chats, Roosevelt told the American people about all the programs and legislation being put into place to get America back on its feet, and he had an optimism and charisma about him that greatly bolstered the morale of a nation so deeply crippled by fear and doubt.

...or, if you go by this movie - he was a wise-cracking, foul-mouthed, gun-toting, werewolf-killing American badass.

Or did the title give it away?

We are introduced to FDR (Barry Bostwick) on a hunting trip, where he is attacked by a werewolf, and thus contracts polio shortly before deciding to run for President of the United States.  Werewolves, it seems, being an accepted fact in this universe.  While FDR takes the news about his waist down paralysis in stride (with some penis jokes, of course), we learn that the werewolf responsible was none other than a German werewolf (as demonstrated by a Swastika tattoo, an English-German dictionary, the complete works of Wagner, and Mein Kampf that were found on his person) and that Germany, Japan, and Italy have all been overtaken by (horrifically racist) werewolves.

What follows is ninety-three minutes of absolute insanity, sparing no one and nothing.  Every aspect of FDR is touched upon from his polio to his extra-martial affairs (coincidentally, don't watch this film if you ever want to be able to eat hot dogs again) to World War II itself with various degrees of inaccuracy.  However, this doesn't seem to be from a lack of research so much as spoofing, which this movie does with various degrees of success.  Sadly, this flits schizophrenic-ally between a strong suite and a weak point for a film, as does a great deal of the humor in general. When it's good, it's great! There are just too many a scene where the humor is stopped dead by either an unnecessary crude bit (such as FDR's oldest son defecating into a flower pot - twice) or jokes that just aren't funny and are clearly trying to be, and they pretty effectively stall the film dead.

If it weren't for the obvious change in style, I'd liken it to Mel Brooks' attempt at spoofing a war propaganda film.  Except that would remind of actually good comedy films that I could be reviewing, so I'll just shy away from the comparison.  And even as I critique the film, I do have to acknowledge a single, simple fact about it that shines brightly with an actual reality.

If FDR could have stormed the beaches of Normandy and gunned down Hitler and Mussolini with a wheelchair decked out with rocket launchers and machine guns, you know he totally would have.

Why? Because FDR, like his cousin Teddy, was and is an American Badass.

Maybe not in the same sense as this film presents, but I really wouldn't put it past FDR to take down the Axis Powers singlehandedly with the aforementioned wheelchair, smoke weed with Abraham Lincoln (in a bizarre casting choice, Kevin Sorbo) on the roof of the White House, and send a signed note with a box of sake telling the Japanese to keep it out of his country, and probably several more things detailed in the film, as outlandish, crazy, and over the top as they are.

...okay, yeah, in all seriousness I'm sure even he would have had a limit here.

I get that this film isn't supposed to be Oscar bait.  No, indeed, it's supposed to be bad (I believe the term is "Stylistic Suck").  My advice? Watch it at least once.  Because this really is a film that loops around, passes infinity, and becomes something just...amazing.  It's not on the well of such cinematic atrocities as Birdemic or The Room, but...it is definitely something wholly unique and all its own.  Absurd in virtually every aspect and not in the remotest sense ashamed of it, I do have to admit that I did find myself somewhat entertained for ninety-three minutes, which is more than I can say for a lot of the things I've reviewed.

"FDR:  American Badass" was produced by A Common Thread and Street Justice Films, and was distributed by Screen Media Films in the U.S.

It is also, at the time of writing, available on Instant Streaming for Netflix. So, if you have it, look for it there!

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