Dudes just wanna have fun

The Dudes Behind the “Dude” Trilogies. Funny has Nothing to do with Beginner’s LuckCertainly, Dude isn’t the most sophisticated, layered humor, but then again, it isn’t supposed to be. It’s funny watching two bumbling grown men ravenously wolfing a pizza and asserting their inner alpha dog to win the last slice. Sure, it’s juvenile, but these are “dudes,” man, and if you’re a dude or know a dude then you know dudes are dudes regardless of their race or walk of life. That’s what made the early Saturday Night Live work. The skits with Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd gleefully celebrated the dude-dom of “two wild and crazy guys.”

We laughed. Out loud.

In that fine tradition, the Dude trilogy likewise succeeds with a distinctly Canadian-Aboriginal twist. No heavy lifting; no deep social conscience. It’s progress when a Native guy and his White friend can just hang out, pass gas, grunt, and eat too much—be dudes. Without tipis, feathers, dreary depictions of drunkenness, desperation or ethnic animosity. Not here; not this time.Comment:  I'd say the "two wild and crazy guys" skits worked because it satirized the "dudes," not because it celebrated them. They were losers who thought they were winners--who didn't realize how out of touch with reality they were. Unless Dude makes fun of its protagonists also--which isn't evident from this review--it's not the same thing.