Busted (1997)

I was looking up movies with the two Coreys on Netflix, and found this potential gem. We're talking Corey Feldman's directorial debut. Not only that, but according to imdb, this is his only job as director, until 2008's Bloke Goes to Hollywood, which is in post-production right now. I figured this had to be good.

Busted is about a small beach side town in California that has no crime and a bored police staff. In order to clean up prostitution, they have decided to run a brothel inside their jail. Feldman is the second in command, and when his boss is suspended so the department can be audited, it's up to him to keep the sex-for-money under wraps so they can all keep their jobs. Corey Haim is barely in it.



This is like a Skin-a-max style comedy, with lots of sex and nudity, and some really bad jokes. We're talking jokes on the level of National Lampoons Last Resort, also starring the Coreys. The music was awesome, especially the title song that plays at the beginning. Really bad rock with a guy who sings like someone making fun of Bob Seger. The issue I tend to have is that making fun of comedies can be a challenge, like the guys at MST3K said when they took on Catalina Caper. While at moments it's fun to mock the bad humor, at other times it just hurts.

I liked Feldman as a director, though I'm not sure how much effort goes into directing a de facto Skin-a-max flick. I'm curious to see what the next one's like. I like Feldman in general, and I try not to get too down on him for the bad movies he did during the nineties. He was still trying to eke out his living as an actor after the industry had labeled him a pariah. But as a comedic actor, he was still trying to find his instrument, and the growing pains showed, as we felt them too in every bad joke we had to endure.



Corey Haim, on the other hand, is second billed, and barely in the film. His drug issues were probably the culprit, but it's interesting how Feldman mitigates the problem of having someone who was supposed to have a major role suddenly appear in only a couple scenes. When Haim pops up, all the characters interact with him like he's been there the whole time, and we as an audience are supposed to buy that, I guess. Either that, or should we care, especially if we're watching a Corey Feldman directed Skin-a-max comedy.

One person I wouldn't expect in a Corey Feldman directed Skin-a-max comedy is Elliott Gould (spelled with one "T" in the credits). I wonder if he sat in his trailer thinking "I was in M*A*S*H damn it! I've been nominated for an Oscar!" I wonder if he even had a trailer. He plays a game show host for a dreamlike game show called Would You Believe? that pops up whenever Feldman has to lie to someone. Not only does he mail it in, but he doesn't even use first class postage.



I was wondering how I'd use my last paragraph before the final conclusion. Todd Bridges is in this, spending most of the movie in a jail cell, and I thought that would be funny to comment on, but also maybe too easy. Then there's Feldman's simplistic view of prostitution being something that's not so bad because it's not hurting anyone, but I felt commenting on that would be too soapboxy, and who wants to read that. I decided on discussing Feldman's partner, who looks like Jacoby Ellsbury, star five-tool outfielder for the Boston Red Sox. If you're someone who hates the fact that all the Boston teams have been winning lately, this Ellsbury lookalike might be too much for you. Me, having grown up an hour away from Boston, obviously like that the teams are winning, but I am a little guilty and a little embarrassed about the way some of the bandwagoners in New England have suddenly become huge sports fans. Just know that not all Boston fans are obnoxious, and some of us understand why everyone else was rooting for the Giants in last year's Super Bowl.

Unless you're a hardcore Two Coreys fan, stay away from this one. Maybe if you really like to make fun of bad movies, and you want the challenge of a bad comedy, you might put this on your Netflix queue. I will say it is a different ball game than making fun of bad horror and bad action, so if you've got some experienece under your belt and think you're ready for the next challenge, this would might be the way to go.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115791/