Following their latest truancy from school getting them expelled, fraternal twins Phil (Paul Walker) and Stu (Steve Van Wormer) Deedle are sent by their fed up father to Wyoming for a month for a character building exercise with their Father's old army buddy from Vietnam. When the duo arrive to find their coordinator a disheveled unhinged mess, a series of contrivances results in the Deedles getting lost and eventually through a case of mistaken identity winding up at Yellowstone National Park where the duo are thought to be Prairie Dog experts by Ranger Capt. Douglas Pine (John Ashton) who are there to stop the prairie dog's havoc before Old Faithful's billionth birthday celebration in a week. While Phil just wants to go home, Stu sees this as an opportunity to earn their father's respect while Phil sees it as an opportunity to make a move on Capt. Pine's daughter, Jesse (A. J. Langer). Meanwhile, a deranged former ranger named Frank Slater (Dennis Hopper) is behind the prairie dog activity and has his mind set on Yellowstone's destruction.
The first live-action film by DiC entertainment following its acquisition by Disney in the 90s, Meet the Deedles feels very much like a late move on the 90s buddy/slacker comedies of the era like Dumb and Dumber, Bill & Ted, or Wayne's World. Directed by veteran stunt performer Steve Boyum, one would think this laidback, slapstick heavy comedy would be serviceable if unremarkable entertainment, but unfortunately that's simply not the case.
I think the biggest issue is there's very little comic friction built around our comic leads because not only do they not feel all that well defined, but the movie can't seem to decide if they're supposed to be annoying chaos engines or underdogs we're supposed to root for. Much of the Deedles shenanigans consists of them shouting at the top of their lungs while engaged in some manner of slapstick or extreme sports inspired setpieces and there really isn't anyone serving as a straight man to the Deedles antics with their behavior often feeling like action without reaction as scenes will often just end. One scene where Phil tears a picture of Frank's face and wears it while skirting himself with a drinking fountain just abruptly cuts with a feeling more of confusion than humor because the set up, action, and payoff didn't have the proper coordination to be funny. Even when we are given a full "joke" it's so slowly delivered that there's no surprise factor or punch to the gag meaning it lust limps across the screen until the next sequence. The film's cast is truly bizarre with reliable character actors looking either very confused or embarrassed with Robert Englund terribly miscast as a derby barely vocal throwaway henchmen, and Dennis Hopper basically recycling his Speed character Howard Payne down to the fact his lair is filled with TV screens for him to mug at.
Meet the Deedles just isn't funny. The leads don't have any character or substance to make them funny and since the movie's loose narrative is just a string of comic set pieces the movie's a humorless slog that doesn't raise a smirk let alone a laugh.
The first live-action film by DiC entertainment following its acquisition by Disney in the 90s, Meet the Deedles feels very much like a late move on the 90s buddy/slacker comedies of the era like Dumb and Dumber, Bill & Ted, or Wayne's World. Directed by veteran stunt performer Steve Boyum, one would think this laidback, slapstick heavy comedy would be serviceable if unremarkable entertainment, but unfortunately that's simply not the case.
I think the biggest issue is there's very little comic friction built around our comic leads because not only do they not feel all that well defined, but the movie can't seem to decide if they're supposed to be annoying chaos engines or underdogs we're supposed to root for. Much of the Deedles shenanigans consists of them shouting at the top of their lungs while engaged in some manner of slapstick or extreme sports inspired setpieces and there really isn't anyone serving as a straight man to the Deedles antics with their behavior often feeling like action without reaction as scenes will often just end. One scene where Phil tears a picture of Frank's face and wears it while skirting himself with a drinking fountain just abruptly cuts with a feeling more of confusion than humor because the set up, action, and payoff didn't have the proper coordination to be funny. Even when we are given a full "joke" it's so slowly delivered that there's no surprise factor or punch to the gag meaning it lust limps across the screen until the next sequence. The film's cast is truly bizarre with reliable character actors looking either very confused or embarrassed with Robert Englund terribly miscast as a derby barely vocal throwaway henchmen, and Dennis Hopper basically recycling his Speed character Howard Payne down to the fact his lair is filled with TV screens for him to mug at.
Meet the Deedles just isn't funny. The leads don't have any character or substance to make them funny and since the movie's loose narrative is just a string of comic set pieces the movie's a humorless slog that doesn't raise a smirk let alone a laugh.