Review in a Hurry: It's sorta like City Slickers—middle-aged guys take a trip together to reclaim their lives—but here, the dissatisfied dudes straddle hogs (as in Harleys) instead of horses. The other big difference? City Slickers was good.
The Bigger Picture: Tired of just being "weekend warriors," four midlife-crisis buds hit the road, Jack, in search of freewheeling adventures. After revving up with that decent premise, Hogs sputters and dies from all the dumb slapstick, bathroom humor and homophobia.
Meet the Wild bunch: Martin Lawrence is a wannabe writer working crappy plumbing jobs. Computer geek William H. Macy has trouble interfacing with chicks. Dentist Tim Allen suffers from a high cholesterol count. And businessman John Travolta faces bankruptcy and divorce.
Stuck in a rut, these Hogs from Ohio decide to motor to California. Cruising cross-country, they hit one plot hole, er, pothole after another—they accidentally burn down their tent, run out of gas, attract a lascivious gay cop, and piss off a badass biker gang called the Del Fuegos, led by tattooed toughie Ray Liotta.
The clueless quartet seeks sanctuary in a small desert town—the kind only found in movies—but finally faces down the Del Fuegos, who try to pummel the Hogs into mincemeat.
The actors, with an easy chemistry between them, seem to be having a pretty good time. The same can't be said for us in the audience.
Instead of complex characters, we get sketchy cartoons, strung-together skits instead of a cohesive story and poop jokes in lieu of witty banter. Then there's Wild's weird obsession with homosexual "humor" and stereotyping, as the friends frequently freak that someone might—yuck!—think they're gay. Har-dee-har-har.
Offensive and unfunny, Hogs is cinematic roadkill, so you'll wanna steer clear.
The 180—a Second Opinion: If you must enjoy this flick, warm up to Marisa Tomei's sweet (but too brief) turn as a diner proprietress who, um, boots Macy's hard drive. Or dig the cool-cat cameo by Easy Rider's Peter Fonda, easily riding away with the last reel.