This is the type of movie you keep rooting for, even if it doesn’t always deliver.
Review by David Feltman
Pulling from the Kevin Smith playbook, writer/director George O’Barts creates a blue-collar, gross-out comedy with “Pizza Shop The Movie.” The film follows the juvenile exploits of a group of pizza delivery drivers, ultimately developing into a story of personal growth and male bonding.
The film is largely set in the titular shop and is composed of static, comic book panel-like shots. Whether strictly a budgetary issue or a lack of technical know-how, the absence of camera movement flattens out the already minimal onscreen action. This puts the burden of carrying the film squarely on the actors and their ability to deliver a joke. This does not often work in the film’s favor. “Pizza Shop” is episodic, moving quickly from one gag to the next as the pizza guys deal with internal pizza politics and customers that are alternatingly curmudgeonly or sex-crazed. O’Barts misses an opportunity by limiting the variety of customers. It would have been easy to replace one of the nymphomaniacs with, say, a repugnant shut-in or a goofy hick or a negligent parent, something to add an extra topping or two to this slice-of-life comedy.
The script is loose and a little spotty, filled with plot points that are overly convenient or entirely abandoned. Bhavin Patel plays the new guy and serves as the film’s central focus for a full 15 minutes before being dumped in favor of Robert Bielfelt and Cian Patrick O’Dowd. But despite these drawbacks and its shared DNA with second-tier comedies like “Waiting,” “The Slammin’ Salmon,” and “Road Trip,” “Pizza Shop” is loveable and entertaining. This is the type of movie you keep rooting for, even if it doesn’t always deliver.
You can order “Pizza Shop” from the official website or catch it on Amazon Instant Video.
