Title: Yoga Hosers
Release Date: September 2, 2016 (limited)
Studio: Smodcast Pictures
Director: Kevin Smith
Release Format: Theatrical (limited)
It’s getting to the point where the fun part of Kevin Smith’s films isn’t necessarily watching them. No, the real fun is actually finding a theater in your area that will play a Kevin Smith movie. Most noteworthy, a friend and I had to travel two and a half hours away just to see Tusk back in 2014. In the end, I loved Tusk so I’d say it was worth the drive. In addition, if not for Fathom Events, I would have never seen Yoga Hosers in theaters. The release of this film is so limited, it’s a wonder why Smith didn’t just go the straight-to-DVD route.
The Fathom Event opened with an intro by Kevin Smith where he discussed the thought process behind the film. Essentially, whereas most of his films try to appeal to adult audiences, Yoga Hosers is different because it is a film intended for young teenage girls. Without this information, I’m not sure I would have liked this film too much. Like anything written by Kevin Smith, Yoga Hosers has memorable humor, immense creativity and most of all, a great deal of heart. However, it also caters to a specific demographic this time. As a result, it feels tamer and ultimately doesn’t hold a candle to most of his other works.
Harley Quinn Smith & Lily-Rose Depp play Colleen McKenzie and Colleen Collette, the two convenience store clerks they cameoed in Tusk. They are in a rock band together, constantly text on their phones and are obsessed Yoga enthusiasts. Through a set of weird circumstances, the girls find themselves in a series of usual predicaments. A town with a dark secret, confiscated cell phones, a mysterious detective, an evil mastermind, Nazi’s made out of Bratwurst; for The Colleens, it’s just another day in The Great White North. Let me just say that if you are not a die-hard Kevin Smith fan or a young teenage girl, you will probably hate this film. Yoga Hosers is a structural mess and as a result it may alienate some people.
Because of this, I do understand where the majority of critics are coming from. Yoga Hosers is a film with the best intentions but it is not without its narrative problems. Let’s get into the positives first. Harley Quinn Smith and Lily-Rose Depp have a fantastic chemistry. Their performances aren’t groundbreaking or anything but they aren’t bad at all in their first starring roles. It’s obvious watching Yoga Hosers that these two have been friends for years because of how perfectly they play off each other. Their characters are the typical teenage girls of this generation. They do yoga, talk modern slang, spout quick one-liners, and insults and are constantly on their cell phones. As far as capturing the spirit of this generation, Smith pretty much nails it.
The thing that has always drawn me to Kevin Smith’s films is his creativity. He can take the weirdest, out of place, obscure thing you can think of and make it interesting and fun to watch. Whether it be Nazi’s made out of bratwursts, a demon made out of excrement, a man becoming a walrus or even a giant golden cow, Smith understands how to make the ridiculousness of his creations as funny as possible. With the Bratzi’s, that is basically what he did. It’s the movie’s creative style and creations that make it worth checking out. Any movie with two teenage girls killing Nazi Bratwursts with hockey sticks in a convenient store is pretty awesome in my book. Also, hearing Kevin Smith’s daughter scream, “I’m not even supposed to be here today!” was just hilarious.
The jokes in Yoga Hosers are incredibly hit and miss but when they hit, they hit hard. Yoga Hosers is a mixed bag with its humor, to say the least. Some of the best humor, interestingly enough, comes from Yoga Hosers’ slew of cameos. I won’t spoil them here but just about every cameo is hilarious. Johnny Depp also returns as Guy Lapointe but in a limited role. He shows up at the halfway point but doesn’t have much to do compared to Tusk. While he’s not as funny as he was in Tusk, he still gets a couple good laughs here and there.
Now we have some negatives to run through. As I said already, some of the jokes fall flat and we could have used more Johnny Depp. The structure of this film is awkward for the most part and the narrative doesn’t really flow too well. The problem is that there are so many people introduced and many of them never come back. Therefore, their particular scenes feel like pointless detours. The biggest offenders are the principal, the gym teacher, and Colleen Collette’s parents. They seem funny and interesting but they really do nothing to drive the plot forward. They’re just kind of in the film for “reasons”. It felt like kind of a waste as they would have been interesting characters to explore. In addition, the villain’s plan feels inconsistent and his scheme at the end, while very humorous, sort of comes out of nowhere.
Overall, Yoga Hosers is a film for teenage girls first and a film for guys like me second. Honestly, I only mildly enjoyed this one. It isn’t bad by any stretch but isn’t great either. What pulls it through for me is its creativity, its two leads, and its obvious heart. However, I will also admit that if I was a teenage girl, I would probably love this film to death. And seeing how that’s what Smith was going for, trying to appeal more to that demographic, I’d say he succeeded. If you want a simple, fun time with some creative moments and two fun breakout performances, I’d recommend it. If you are a teenage girl, watch it now. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. If you hate Kevin Smith films… RUN!
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