Director Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone
Genre Comedy
Cast Andy Samberg, Imogen Poots, Sarah Silverman, Bill Hader
Rating R
Release Date June 3rd, 2016
“When it becomes clear that his solo album is a failure, a former boy band member does everything in his power to maintain his celebrity status.”
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is directed by Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, both original members of The Lonely Island. The 3rd member (and clearly most popular) is Andy Samberg. The comedic trio was formed in Berkely, California, in 2001. They met in Jr. High and after college decided to take their act to the bright lights of L.A. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping also stars Tim Meadows, Maya Rudolph, Sarah Silverman, and Imogen Poots.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a hilariously creative collaboration for The Lonely Island trio, successfully mocking the music industry with relative ease. I enjoy Andy Samberg and I feel that he is funny even though he can be way too over the top at times. This film truly felt like the product of a great working relationship with everyone involved and what they came up with is something to be proud of. Some have compared the film to an SNL skit that lasts just under an hour and a half, but that isn’t entirely true. Granted it has that SNL skit feel to it at times but the story unfolds nicely and paves the way for a bit more meaning than expected. Although Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping might not quite crack my top 5 Judd Apatow produced films list, it was very entertaining and easily crawled into the top 10.
As a film, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping includes goofy acting not intended to be taken seriously (or too seriously anyway). Is that a knock on the film? Not at all, it is simply a successful attempt at satire. It is clearly a knock on the music industry (thank you captain obvious), but it is much more than that. It is a clear-cut example of what our lives have become due to our infatuation and all-encompassing dependability on technology. Social media rules the world, I wish that weren’t true but it is simply our world today. Gone are the good old days when bringing an out of service pager to school felt cool (yes, that was me in middle school, full disclosure I was also a big Backstreet Boys fan).
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a very entertaining and funny popcorn flick that will surely please fans of Andy Samberg or The Lonely Island crew in general. If you dislike Samberg it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you will probably dislike the movie considering he is the lead. Samberg’s over the top brand of humor was kept in check and I felt that was a plus. I am honestly looking forward to the official release of the music videos from the movie, specifically “Equal Rights.” It was hilarious. If you feel like having some quality laughs while gaining some useful (and some just plain ridiculous) insight into the music industry, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is the movie for you.
