Nick Swardson is a funny guy. He had a great recurring role on Reno 911 as a smart-ass roller skating prostitute, and he’s made memorable appearances in films such as I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and 30 Minutes or Less. As outrageous as some of the characters he’s played have been, nothing will prepare you for his turn as Bucky Larson, a buck-toothed Iowa kid who picks up and heads to Hollywood with the hopes of becoming a star. But Larson doesn’t want to be just any star. Having just learned that his seemingly innocent parents were famous first-generation porn stars, he sets out to follow in their footsteps. His small penis and un-groomed crotch turn out be a real turn-off, at least for most directors. And when Miles Deep (Don Johnson) decides to let Larson do a screen test, he’s equally disappointed until Larson becomes an Internet sensation, and Deep figures he can market him as an anti-porn star. Before you can say “preposterous,” Larson is one of adult film’s biggest sensations, and he cleans up at the year-end award ceremony, pissing off rival Dick Shadow (Stephen Dorff) and alienating his well-intentioned girlfriend Kathy (Christina Ricci) along the way. Co-written by Adam Sandler, this film has little to no merit. It’s almost as if you can hear Sandler and friends snickering to themselves as they put the concept together. Too bad they never thought to wonder whether anyone else would find the script humorous. And as much Swardson tries to give the character some kind of pathos, even he can’t salvage this lame-brained flick.

Tags: Nick Swardson, Bucky Larson Born to be a Star