The Reel Review
Three bumbling lifelong friends who live together find themselves battling park rangers and a religious cult to find a hidden treasure on a nearby mountain, in this comedy written by and starring the trio of Saturday Night Live sketch writers who call themselves Please Don’t Destroy.
With the writing trio – John Higgins, Martin Herlihy and Ben Marshall – playing fictionalized versions of themselves in this intentionally silly Goonies knockoff, their debut comedy feature film suffers from the common fate of so many movies by SNL sketch writers – it takes a cute but thin premise and tries unsuccessfully to stretch it into something that just doesn’t have the laughs to sustain a full hour and a half. There are a few sophomoric giggles, but the mediocre film falls way short of the trio’s unconventionally hilarious SNL sketches.
It’s pretty clear why this film initially planned for a theatrical release was unceremoniously dumped on Peacock. The screenplay is tired, and the phoned-in story underutilizes a supporting cast that includes John Goodman as the narrator, Megan Stalter (Hacks) and X Mayo (American Auto, The Blackening) as park rangers, Conan O’Brien as the father of one of the trio and owner of a Bass Pro Shops knockoff called Trout Plus, SNL‘s Bowen Yang as a cult leader and Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo as himself. Better time would be spent watching the group’s SNL skits on YouTube.
REEL FACTS
• Over the last couple of years, the Saturday Night Live comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy has created pre-recorded sketches like Three Sad Virgins, Hard Seltzer and Election Night.
• Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain is Conan O’Brien’s first movie role where he does not play himself.
• Two of the trio – Higgins and Herlihy – are the children of former Saturday Night Live staff writers.
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