Fishing in the Discount Bin - Wayne's World

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I watch one of the many movies I own and go a-bloggin' about it.  Next in the queue, the 1992 comedy classic that briefly sparked a trend of turning old Saturday Night Live bits into movies, Wayne's World.  Originally in my notes at February 1, 2015.

Wayne's World.  One of those movies I've loved forever, yet never owned.  So when I was in HMV the other day and saw it on Blu-Ray for $10, I finally said, "Why not?"

I loved it thoroughly throughout junior high and high school.  Rented it and saw it on video I don't know how many times.  When the corner store was doing some cleaning up, and getting rid of a cardboard standee of Wayne and Garth that they had to plug the VHS, I claimed that and it stood in my bedroom for I don't remember how long.  It's almost the secret origin of my radio career.  When I first came home from college, and I was describing my college radio show to my parents, they said, "So...it's like Wayne's World?" 

The catchphrases infused pop culture at the time.  It made Bohemian Rhapsody a hit again.  And when all is said and done, it's still just a funny movie.

I had just started watching Saturday Night Live at the time, so I really didn't know it was a Saturday Night Live sketch.  But, rest assured, after the movie, I started watching SNL religiously in the hopes a Wayne's World sketch would be coming up.

The SNL bit was the cable access show that Wayne and his best friend Garth did out of Wayne's parents' basement.  The movie wisely takes Wayne and Garth out of the basement, and shows their interactions with the real world.  As such, the plot in the film is rather scant, as it's just a bunch of Wayne and Garth bits as they share their thoughts in the real world.

The plot, as you may recall, involves a sleazy TV producer played by Rob Lowe who buys their show to take Wayne and Garth to the big time.  But tensions arise when Wayne has to sell out and start kowtowing to sponsor demands.  A lot of people don't remember, being in this film was Rob Lowe's big comeback.  In the late-1980s, he was embroiled in the first sex tape scandal, when a sex tape he made got leaked to the tabloids, and he was un-hirable for a while.  Him being in Wayne's World was his return.  And he's good, too, as it was his first real comedy, and he brings the right amount of yuppie sleaze to the role.

Memorable side bits and characters too, like Wayne's ex-girlfriend Stacey.  Apparently, inspired by a real ex-girlfriend of Mike Myers who actually did give him a gun rack for a present.  According to legend, she was mortified when she saw the movie and saw the incident re-enacted on the big screen, and got in touch with Myers to finally explain her side of the story.  According to her, Myers was just really getting into and starting his career in comedy at the time, so she gave him a gun rack as a big, absurdist joke.  But he didn't get the joke. 

I'm really not sure what more to say.  Just watching it again tonight (it must have been at least a decade since I saw it last), I was surprised at how much I was laughing out loud at the whole proceedings.  Still funny after all these years.