Fiction is stranger than life in these movies that had no right being as good as they were.
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00:00Now, movies come in all shapes and sizes, from the crowd-pleasers, to the arthouse darlings,
00:05the indies, to the Hollywood blockbusters. They're generally made with an audience in
00:09mind, and usually a trailer alone is enough to discern if that is you. But some movies,
00:14however, seem to be designed to alienate viewers before their bums have even touched the seats.
00:19Often a bizarre, high-concept premise mingles with the fear of the unknown to leave potential
00:23audiences with a feeling of bemusement rather than excitement. But you know what? Sometimes
00:27they still absolutely worked. And that's what we're here to talk about today, as I'm Jules,
00:31this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 Movies That Worked Despite Their Absurd Premise.
00:3610. Crank – High Voltage
00:38Now, the duology of crank movies have never ever claimed to be high art. The directors instead
00:43conceived of a premise perfect for facilitating non-stop high-octane action. The first movie saw
00:49Jason Statham's Chev injected with a drug that slowed his adrenaline to a crawl. On a vengeful
00:54tirade, he was forced to keep his adrenaline up by doing things such as getting into fights
00:58with policemen and having intercourse in public. But the sequel is where the writers really swung
01:03for the fences, though. Waking up in a daze following the previous movie's climax,
01:07Chev discovers that his heart has been replaced with an artificial one. He soon finds out that
01:11he must keep his new organ charged while he hunts for those who took his original beatmaker.
01:15How does he do this? Well, jumper cables attached to a car battery,
01:18live wires atop a utility pole, and yes, having intercourse on a racetrack to generate static
01:23energy. I know what you're thinking, that sounds really dumb. And it was. But it was also brilliant.
01:27And after a climax that has to be seen to be believed, Crank High Voltage cements itself
01:32as a deliriously silly movie that just wants the audience to have fun. And it succeeded.
01:379. Speed
01:39Get ready for rush hour, Speed's tagline reads. And if that, coupled with the premise,
01:43doesn't tell you everything that you need to know about this movie's tone, then nothing will.
01:48Keanu Reeves plays the role of Jack, an LAPD SWAT officer that finds himself in the middle
01:52of a high-stakes bomb plot aboard a speeding bus. The bomb, attached to the vehicle's underside,
01:58is rigged to detonate should the bus ever drop below 50 miles per hour.
02:01It's a plot that's designed around the idea of non-stop action and constant tension. And when
02:06considering the runtime of close to two hours, however, it is a miracle that such a simple
02:10concept managed to keep the audience entertained throughout. The movie does so with slightly silly
02:15developments such as a localised bomb that kills one passenger, along with very, very silly
02:20developments such as a freeway that is as yet incomplete, necessitating that the bus ratchet
02:25up the top speed in order to jump the gap. The director, Jan de Bont, famous for Twister and a
02:30Lara Croft Tomb Raider cradle of life, truly understood the appeal of this potentially
02:35paper-thin concept and tapped into audience anxiety to create a fast-paced, endlessly
02:40enjoyable film that has since gone down in the pantheon of action greats.
02:448. The Lego Movie
02:46Before anyone gets angry, it should be made clear that the absurdity of this movie lies
02:50in what it represents, rather than what it is. For what it's worth, the film tells a sincere
02:54story of overcoming the odds, managing to subvert expectations along the way, and leaves audiences
02:59with an important message about conformity and having an individual voice. What's absurd about
03:05that, then? Well, the movie's runaway success and genuinely great writing make it easy to forget
03:10that this is a Lego movie, a film about those unassuming little bricks that everybody wanted
03:15between the ages of four and, well, 99 has played with at some point in their life. Upon its reveal,
03:20it's easy to dismiss this as a shameless advertisement with a runtime of 100 minutes.
03:25But what audiences found, however, was a heartfelt, passionately made adventure,
03:29with gags, both visual and verbal, being fired out at an impossible pace. Topped off with a
03:34beautiful message that captured the spirit of the source material and felt invaluable to the
03:39target audience, The Lego Movie was much more than an advert. What I'm trying to say is that
03:43this was not The Lego Ninjago Movie. Ugh. 7. Weekend at Bernie's
03:49Weekend at Bernie's tells the story of two hapless employees who are invited to their boss's
03:54beach house for Labor Day weekend. But unbeknownst to them, the boss, Bernie, is conspiring to have
03:58them killed after they unwittingly uncover fraud within the company. This doesn't exactly go to
04:03plan, though, as Bernie dies before the two men can arrive. To abridge an exceedingly silly plot,
04:08the two decide to puppet the corpse of their former boss in order to enjoy their weekend
04:12of partying and cover up their fast-expanding web of lies. While the movie didn't set the
04:17world on fire upon its release with critics, the movie has since gone on to become a cult classic,
04:21fondly remembered by those who watched it at the time. With comedy geared towards a younger
04:26audience, the laughs were consistent enough and the slapstick silliness fun enough to keep
04:30audiences engaged throughout. Coming in at over 90 minutes, though, it can be and was argued that
04:35the premise would have been better suited to a comedy sketch, and that was definitely before
04:39the dubious sequels wheeled out four years later. 6. Hot Rod
04:43In 2007, hit internet comedy band Lonely Island came together to release their first movie.
04:48Hot Rod was a silly, subversive, and extremely funny movie that, unfortunately, bombed at the
04:53box office. However, time has been kind to it and its cast, becoming solidified as a bona fide
04:58classic and launching a movie career that is still going today. Things seem innocuous at first. Rod
05:03is a helpless, drifting, amateur stuntman who wants nothing more than to earn the respect of
05:07his stepfather, played by the brilliant Ian McShane. In order to do that, he has one simple
05:12task – beat his new dad in a physical fight. Things quickly take a turn, though, as Frank
05:17falls seriously ill, and Rod vows to rack up enough cash with his stunts to pay for Frank's
05:21life-saving surgery, so that when he's better, he can then beat him half to death. It's a plot that
05:26perfectly matches the movie's light, surreal tone and sense of humour. It manages to simultaneously
05:31have stakes both low and high, facilitating a consistent stream of absurd gags and laugh-out-loud
05:37slapstick. Filled with a great cast, unexpected sincerity and pacing that doesn't allow for
05:41boredom, Hot Rod was indeed a triumph. 5. Rubber
05:45What's left to say about a movie that has gained mass recognition purely due to the absurdity of
05:51its premise? By now, almost everybody has heard of Rubber and is familiar, at least loosely,
05:55with the movie's deranged concept. For those that aren't, however, Rubber is a French comedy-horror
06:00about a car tyre that gains consciousness and soon discovers it has telekinetic powers.
06:05And what does it decide to do with these newfound abilities? Well, go on a murderous rampage,
06:09exploding helpless victims' heads on his path to pursue a woman who's become the object of his
06:13obsession, of course. Robert – and yes, the tyre does have a name, by the way – is followed by
06:19Lieutenant Chad, a sheriff who consistently ruminates on the idea of things happening for
06:23no reason in movies. When Chad isn't taking part in the events of Rubber, he's actually seen
06:27commenting on them, along with an in-film audience who are also watching things unfold.
06:32A subplot soon emerges about those audience members who are being murdered with poisoned
06:37food. Perhaps Rubber may have benefited from losing this bloat, with the general opinion
06:41being that the schlocky action is great fun but the pretentious commentary on cinema
06:45serves only to hamper proceedings. But still, it's a fun ride throughout.
06:494. Swiss Army Man
06:51Swiss Army Man is a movie that made headlines upon its announcement,
06:54thanks in part to its ridiculous premise. It tells the story of a man marooned on a desert island.
06:59At the peak of his hopelessness, he discovers a corpse that washes up on the beach. His hopes
07:04for survival are renewed when he discovers that the body has a bizarre penchant for particularly
07:09strong flatulence, and proceeds to use it as a makeshift raft, propelled by its farts.
07:14Other oddities include the corpse slowly regaining consciousness and the ability to
07:17talk in simple sentences, a swimsuit magazine being used to fuel an erection compass,
07:22and a tussle with a bear that culminates in an ignited toot. It's as balls-to-the-wall
07:27bizarre as it sounds, which makes for a sort of unhinged castaway for the modern age.
07:31Yet most impressively, despite how juvenile and strange it all sounds, the movie works.
07:36It's in turns laugh-out-loud funny, tender, and a surprisingly effective deranged romance.
07:41This is topped off with two lead performers that are giving their all to this seemingly
07:45unsalvageable concept. Much like Radcliffe's Manny, Swiss Army Man appears to be dead on arrival,
07:51but in reality is brimming with life. 3. Being John Malkovich
07:56With Charlie Kaufman penning the script and Spike Jonze taking on directing duties,
08:00it comes as no surprise that Being John Malkovich is a surreal masterpiece. Helmed
08:05by two filmmakers known for their high-concept yet deeply intimate output, this was always likely to
08:10be a hit-and-miss affair, and definitely going to be strange. The movie tells the story of a
08:15puppeteer named Craig, played by John Cusack. Shortly after taking a job as a file clerk,
08:20he stumbles upon a hidden tunnel in the building. This tunnel, of course, happens to be a portal
08:24that leads directly into the consciousness of the real-world actor John Malkovich.
08:28What takes place following this is a mind-bending series of events that would be near impossible to
08:33coherently retell to you here. From monetising the discovery for public use to a Malkovich-ception
08:38sequence in which the actor enters his own mind to be met with legions of John Malkoviches,
08:43the film takes the concept and runs with it, introducing new ideas at a breakneck pace.
08:48During all of this, though, it never leaves its characters behind, and instead manages to be
08:52tragic, heartfelt, funny, and utterly mind-boggling. And you know what, there's not much more you can
08:57ask for from a cinematic experience, right? 2. Face-Off
09:01Face-Off is so revered as a classic today that it's easy to have developed a sort of
09:05absurdity blindness to its wild premise. After all, Travolta and Cage calling the
09:10shots in a zany action flick during the height of their careers is headline enough.
09:14Beginning as a standard cat-and-mouse fare, Travolta plays Sean Archer, an FBI agent with
09:19a personal vendetta, obsessively chasing Cage's caster Troy, a ruthless terrorist. So far,
09:26any number of action movies from the late 1980s to the 2000s, right? But it's when the
09:30literality of the title comes in that the movie kicks things up a notch. Following a plane crash
09:35with Troy aboard, Archer pursues the truth by taking the only logical step, undergoing mass
09:40surgery to have his face replaced with Troy's in order to go undercover and unearth answers.
09:46Troy awakens shortly after, forcing the surgeon to perform the same operation on him, giving him
09:51the face of Archer. And what ensues is a less traditional game of mouse and cat,
09:56with Travolta and Cage afforded the chance to characterise these personas before switching
10:00roles and then personifying one another. Unbelievably, it made for hugely entertaining
10:05viewing, with action that delivered and a tone that just lent into the ludicrousness of it all.
10:11Bubba Hotep
10:12It's a tale as old as time. Elvis Presley teams up with a black JFK in order to stop an ancient
10:18mummy from stealing the souls of every resident of the retirement home in which they live.
10:22Almost every aspect of Bubba Hotep's plot seems meticulously designed to elicit utter bemusement.
10:28But the final layer of this bewilderment? It's a goofy, effectively funny screwball comedy that
10:33sees Bruce Campbell unironically portray one of the best depictions of Elvis there has ever been.
10:38The story goes that Presley, sick of life in the spotlight, swapped with an Elvis lookalike so
10:42that he could enjoy some peace and quiet. And why is JFK black now? Well, he had his skin dyed
10:48following an assassination attempt, obviously. Come on. The mummy stuff might take a bit more
10:52explaining, though. And if it all sounds silly, that's because it undoubtedly is.
10:57However remarkably, Campbell and Ozzie Davis managed to stir up a believable chemistry amidst
11:02all of this chaos, with laugh-out-loud moments aplenty. While audiences lamented the ineffective
11:07horror elements, the rest was just too good and too bizarre of a time to dismiss, or indeed,
11:13ever forget. And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 movies that worked despite their absurd
11:17premise. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
11:20comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at
11:24RetroJ, but the O is a zero, and it'd be great to chat to you over there. But before I go,
11:29I just want to say one thing. Sometimes in life we can be told that we have absurd dreams,
11:33but you know what, my friend? Never give up on them. They are what make you, you. They are the
11:37drive that makes that creative spark within us all emerge and hopefully blossom into something
11:42brilliant. And you deserve all of the best things in life, like love, happiness, and success. So
11:46don't let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise, alright? You're a massive ledge,
11:50now go out there and utterly smash it today. I believe in you. As always, I've been Jules,
11:55you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.