TOUR DE PHARMACY
US, 2017, 40 minutes, Colour.
Andy Samberg, Orlando Bloom, Freddie Highmore, Joe Buck, Nathan Fielder, Daveed Diggs, John Jr, James Marsden, Maya Rudolph, Danny Glover, Mike Tyson, Julia Ormond, Jeff Goldblum, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Lance Armstrong, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Nenninger, Kevin Bacon, Will Forte, Chris Webber, Phylicia Rashad, J.J.Abrams, Edgar Wright, Chris Romano. Narrated by Jon Hamm.
Directed by Jake Szymanski.
The satire comes from the team who made Seven Days in Hell, a parody of tennis competitions, written by Miller and produced by Andy Samberg who also stars in this film.
As can be seen, the title refers to the Tour de France, a perspective on drugtaking, the use of banned substances, deceptions. This is highlighted by the presence of Lance Armstrong – which some might find in dubious taste given his deceptions over the many years. His presence is satirical, in the dark, then all kinds of accidents to reveal who actually is, his comments about doping and the Tour de France.
Because of doping, disqualifications, accidents, this version of the bike ride finishes up with only five finalists. They are presented in the tour of 1983 – and older actors portraying them in later life. Andy Samberg plays a white writer from Nigeria with Jeff Goldblum as his older self. There is also Freddie Highmore as a woman, disguising herself as a man, infatuated with Andy Samberg, sacrificing herself in an accident so that he can continue to win. The older woman is played by Julia Ormond, finally revealed to be in prison because of the incident. There is also Daveed Diggs an African-American rider, billed as the first to win the Tour de France. However, along the way, he is distracted by a local girl and goes to work on the farm. Fortunately, he is able to rejoin and win. The older man is played by Danny Glover. There is also the musclebound John Cena overdoing the muscles, played in later age by Dolph Lundgren. There is also a rider played by Orlando Bloom, overdoing the drugs, becoming unconscious as he rides, crashing over the cliff.
There are a number of commentators also satirical on race commentary, Joe Buck as himself, Nathan Fielder as the head of supervising drugtaking, testing out the drugs on himself, Maya Rudolph with all kinds of caustic comments. Kevin Bacon also appears as a shady official who takes all kinds of bribes. The British commentator is played by James Marsden who rides along with the cyclists and is deemed to have the possibility of winning the race.
There are comic interludes from Phylicia Rahsad and, commentary by J.J.Abrams and director, Edgar Wright. And commentary by Mike Tyson.
For those who appreciate this kind of television satire, very funny. But, it seems it depends on your sense of humour.
