Sadly Over-hyped

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Pauly Shore is dead" is a mockumentary around the former MTV reporter Pauly Shore who, in this movie, fakes his death to win over all the reputation that he was denied so far. When people learn that he's still alive, Pauly has a hard time dealing with the consequences.The film is not really great in itself. It includes a lot of cheap jokes, stereotypes and not so intelligent humor. On the other hand, sometimes it is able to collect some laughs and it sure shows that Pauly Shore is able to laugh about himself and knows his place in the entertainment world of Hollywood. It is, furthermore, impressive, how many celebrities seem to have agreed to be a part of this movie. The least you can say is that this title doesn't get boring throughout its playtime and lights a firework of gags of very heterogenic quality.All in all this is nothing you have to see but it's also not a catastrophe. For fans of simple humor or Pauly Shore this could be a nice one, for others it is still more or less okay.

A narcissist is one who has excessive love or admiration of oneself. You'd think a person who writes, directs and stars in a movie about himself would fit that definition. But it's the exact opposite."Pauly Shore Is Dead" is a satirical, self-deprecating (self-loathing?) autobiography by a man who was once on top of the world but now he's flattened by it. The movie is mostly predictable, with silly gags and one-liners typical of the plastic 80s and early 90s partycoms we loved so much. Pauly stayed true to the genre that made him a hit.But what I liked were the introspective moments peppered throughout, particularly toward the end, where we see that maybe Pauly could, in fact, be another Robin Williams or Adam Sandler... a typecast slapstick comedian who manages to break out of the mold and become a legitimate actor. The story is superficial, and if you choose to read between the lines--realizing that this movie itself is part of the autobiography--it's a grand experience.Dozens of great cameo appearances make this film a treat. From the opening scene with arrogant Charlie Sheen, to the clips of angry Ben Stiller, to the scene with penniless Gerardo rapping on the side of the road (remember "Rico Suave"?), to the bit with ditzy Paris Hilton or clueless Britney Spears ("Pauly Shore? Oh you mean the guy who was on MTV *before* I was born!") there's tons of comedic eye candy, especially for the 90s pop culture crowd. I think that's the key to all the fun. You don't necessarily need to be a Pauly fan in order to be entertained, as long as you recognize some of the big & upcoming stars of the late 90s."Pauly Shore Is Dead" is not a big budget production, so don't expect polished Hollywood finesse. It seems like a lot was shot on digital cameras, giving it a cheap, homemade feel (deliberately?). The soundtrack is sorta cheezy (again, deliberately?) but with a few big hits like The Cars "Let the Good Times Roll", a tune by Eminem, and ironically a tune by Limp Bizkit, whose singer appears in a cameo handing a demo cd to Pauly and subsequently getting into a fight, yelling "You'll see! My band is going to make it big and we'll never ask you to be in our video!" (the irony being that Pauly has appeared in several).So brush up on your 90s pop culture, then pop this movie in & have a blast. Movies I would compare this to are "Best in Show" (or any of the excellent Christopher Guest mockumentaries, "Napoleon Dynamite", and a weird, undiscovered dark comedy called "Circus Maximus ".

Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003) ** (out of 4) The entire gimmick of this "documentary" is that Pauly Shore realizes that he can't get a job anywhere so the only way to get any respect is to fake his death. After his "death" he starts getting talked about as a comic genius but his cover is blown and there's a backlash when people realize he's not really dead. I was twelve years old when Shore's career took off and I must admit that I enjoyed both ENCINO MAN and SON IN LAW. I continued to watch his movies but stuff like IN THE ARMY NOW, JURY DUTY and BIO-DOME were just three of the worst comedies ever made in history so it's good to report that this movie is much better than them. Shore directed, produced, wrote and stars in this comedy that is pretty much a spoof of Hollywood and it tries to answer the question as to why some fall and get back up while others just stay dead. The most amazing thing about this picture is that Shore got an incredible number of stars to line up for cameo appearances and this includes Charlie Sheen, Chris Rock, Tommy Chong, Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears, Todd Bridges, Carson Daly, Ellen DeGeneres, Andy Dick, Snoop Dogg, Dustin Diamond, Fred Durst, Dr. Dre, Corey Feldman, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Clint Howard, Kato Kaelin, Mario Lopez, Tommy Lee, Michael Madsen, Bill Maher, Jason Mewes, Adam Sandler, Tom Sizemore, Jerry Springer, Vince Vaughn, Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Stiller and Sean Penn. Yes, that Sean Penn. The amazing number of cameos here does make you wonder why these friends couldn't have gotten their buddy Pauly into a few more movies. Or, perhaps this was their way of helping and getting him to shut up about asking them to get him into movies. Either way, the end result really isn't anything special as it's clear Shore needed a better writing to whip the story together and make better sense out of it. I'm sure a more talented director could have made a much funnier film but PAULY SHORE IS DEAD works as a minor film that will mainly appeal to those who want to see all these stars and to see what Shore has been up to.

Sometimes death is the best thing to happen to an artist or other people with potential fame and admiration. For centuries, figures from Vincent Van Gogh to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Michael Jackson have been elevated to greater heights, or have become more appreciated, because they are no longer on this earth. All their faults become virtually forgotten or forgiven, and their strengths, or the reasons they became famous in the first place, come quickly to the public's consciousness. The exceptions to this rule perhaps include serial killers.Pauly Shore, in his directorial debut (if that fact doesn't scare you away from this film already), had this idea in mind when he made the mockumentary "Pauly Shore Is Dead". In it, Shore plays himself, and fakes his own death for the sole purpose of getting free publicity and a new appreciation. Unfortunately, Shore gives very little reason why he would be idolized to the extent of John Belushi or Sam Kinison after he dies. This movie is probably his strongest work so far, but that's really not saying much.Shore starts the movie out by giving a brief synopsis of his life and career, while not being shy to admit that his mother, Mitzi Shore, owned the Comedy Store, where many legendary comedians from Andy Kaufmann to Jim Carrey to Sam Kinison got their big breaks. This family connection contributed to his fame during the 90's, but admittedly wasn't the sole contributor. No doubt, for a few years in the 90's, Shore was a major movie star. Siskel & Ebert thought he was the anti-Christ (check out atthemoviestv.com, type in Shore's name, and see for yourself. It's pretty funny.), but he still made comedies that were modest hits.After 1997, Shore's career crashed and burned. This is where the synopsis ends and the movie begins, shortly after Pauly Shore's sitcom "Pauly" (originally aired on Fox) premieres. Needless to say, the show was a flop. In the movie, Shore blames the sitcom itself for his ultimate demise, and doesn't appear to acknowledge that maybe his "Hey buuuddy!" dumb guy shtick may have gotten old after a while.No matter, though, Shore whines his way through the rest of the movie, making no real attempt to revive his career or even (God forbid!) reinvent himself. It's only through a meeting with the ghost of Sam Kinison (by a really good Kinison impersonator who's so good, you'd think Kinison himself faked his death) that Shore decides to revive his career by killing himself, or at least pretending to do so.He receives the vast media attention he wanted, with his picture on magazine covers and interviews with celebrities (all of whom play themselves in more cameos than you can shake a stick at) saying what a misunderstood genius Shore was. Since Michael Jackson died recently as of the date this review is written, these kinds of post-death accolades are very familiar. Ultimately, though, Shore is caught, and is sent to jail for reasons not explained very well in the film. People who fake their death don't go to jail unless there's insurance fraud involved. There was no mention of insurance in this movie, although that would have been an intriguing plot point.Unfortunately, Shore didn't think the premise all the way through before shooting. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of things he didn't think through before shooting. For instance, in a scene that takes place in 1997, a bus pulls in front of Shore that has a poster on it for the movie "Resident Evil", which came out in 2002!More than that, though, since Shore has been out of the A-list spotlight for a decade now, you never know how much of this movie is fact or fiction. Of course Shore's career fizzled after 1997, but did he really lose his house? Did he really move back in with his mother?It would have been nice for Shore to establish these facts, and be a little bit more honest about how losing a career sucks. He could have made an honest, funny movie rooted in truth, but really blinded that ambition with a premise he couldn't handle, a boatload of celebrity cameos (almost too many unnecessary ones), and really annoying egomania that I'm not sure was supposed to be funny.A recurring line you hear a lot during the movie is when Shore approaches a famous friend (like Charlie Sheen or Vern "Minime" Troyer, who play themselves) and asks them, "Is there a part in the movie for me? (**Insert Long, Noticeable Pause Here**) Dude, is there a part in the movie for me!?!" Did Shore think this was funny? Had he not heard of an agent? Is he really as dumb in real life as he was in "In The Army Now"?This movie, which could have been refreshingly funny, is guilty of too many assumptions. One such part is when Shore, while in jail, is put into the hole and has a clairvoyant conversation with Adam Sandler (who provided his own voice in this movie). Both comedians contemplate about how they made the same kinds of movie, played the same kinds of stupid people, yet Sandler is still a high commodity and Shore isn't.Although some people loved Sandler during his "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" days and hate him now, Sandler's still famous because he grew up. Sure he's made some bad movies, but if he kept playing the same kind of character as Billy Madison, his career would be equally as dead.What Shore assumes (I assume) is that playing the same character over and over again would reap many rewards. Either he assumes that, or his self in the movie assumes that. There's no clear distinction, and that's really what hurts the movie the most.