2000 MTV Movie Awards (2000)

Why am I reviewing an Awards show four years later? Two reasons- one, I remember the show, as it was the last time I watched the MTV Movie Awards all the way through (in past years I've seen them in bits, getting dis-interested fast), and two, the Awards show had one segment that is thankfully available somewhere on the market today. The show itself, if ever aired again in its full time allowance if not just clips, had Sarah Jessica Parker as the host doing a average job with jokes that would and wouldn't work (wardrobe change, anyone?). The musical acts were also less than great.

What is significant is one of the parody segments, this being titled Mission: Improbable. In this short, Ben Stiller plays Tom Crooze, Cruise's stunt double since, as Crooze would call it, "TPS" (without the A in the middle). Cruise and John Woo are preparing to film the new sequel, and Crooze keeps popping up, despite the fact that Cruise supposedly does his own stunts. Even on past films, it seems, like Magnolia and Cocktail, Crooze makes his presence known.

This is the kind of parody that is surprisingly, drop-dead funny each time you watch it- if you are a Stiller fan or even a Cruise fan- because the jokes have no shame in reveling in the silliness of it all. And, oddly enough, it's a bonus feature on the M:I-2 DVD, which is enough for me to recommend the rental of the DVD just for the segment, if not for the actual film. While the Awards show is nothing particular to remember, the skit is a fitting tribute to the world renown actor(s) by way of hysterical satire.