Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

I as such a huge fan of Andy Samberg when I was a kid that I actually got in trouble when I was younger because I recreated one of SNL digital shorts that he and other members of the Lonely Island created a while ago paying a loose homage to the Season 2 finale of the OC. I of course thought it was hilarious, but its all about people getting shot… my parents didn’t think it was very funny…

But when Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping had Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island seemingly making fun of Justin Bieber, I really couldn’t resist. I however, did not actually see the movie until recently. The movie came out at a time when things had gotten quite busy at work and while I wanted to see the movie, I wasn’t excited enough to make a big deal out of seeing it. And by the time things had settled down at work, my motivation had really gone down to see this movie. But I went to Red Box the other day to see what movies were available and I saw this one. I thought it would be a good film to watch and I put it in to finally see what the Lonely Island had to offer.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a mockumentary following the musical career of Conner 4 Reel (played by Andy Samberg). Conner is a musician who has been playing music his entire life. He has been very talented and has gained a lot of his fame through his social media persona. The beginning of the mockumentary shows the progression of his career from being in a rap band called

The Style Boyz. He is accompanied by the other members of the Lonely island who play Lawrence (played by Akiva Schaffer) and Owen (played by Jorma Taccone). The band has a falling out and Conner goes on his own solo career, supported by Owen who acts as his DJ. Lawrence on the other hand goes off to obscurity and becomes a farmer. (That joke actually becomes funnier as the movie goes on, but it didn’t start out funny).

Conner is surrounded by an entourage of yes men and his career soars on the success of his first solo album. The mockumentary mainly starts at the release of his newest album which isn’t great and a tour that has a lot of twists and turns that test Conner. It shows the highs and lows of a pop musicians career and it really has a lot to say about the music industry today.

Right off the bat, this is supposed to be taking a pretty big jab at musicians like Justin Bieber. It pokes fun at the idea of what happens when you get these child star music prodigies and when their life has really only been success, fame, and fortune.

But more importantly, it points out when music is no longer about the art but it is instead about the business of the industry. A lot of the decisions made in the film are not based off of what is going to make the best music, but what is going to make Conner more money.

This movie has a lot of star power in it. Sarah Silverman plays Conner’s publicist, Tim Meadows plays his manager and the rest of the cast is a lot of fun cameos. Justin Timberlake has a fun role in the movie, Will Arnett plays the head of a spoof of TMZ. The cameos are a lot of fun in this movie.

One of the features of the movie that might be hit or miss with people is how over the top ridiculous it is. If you’re a fan of other movies the Lonely Island has put out like Hot Rod, you’ll feel right at home with Popstar because sometimes things just happen and you’re not totally sure why but you laugh because it’s so strange. That being said, it has a lot of immature humor and while it’s out of the ordinary humor, some people might be off put by how immature it is.

Another part of the film that is kind of hit or miss is the different lines in the story they are trying to follow. It’s a mockumentary format so it’s going to go in a lot of directions to illustrate the life of Conner 4 Reel. However, there are a couple of stories in this movie that go absolutely nowhere and are wrapped up almost lazily. The best example is his girlfriend who he is obviously dating for a publicity stunt. She break up with him off screen and before you know it she’s dating Seal. Not everything is going to be resolved and it is more focused on the relationship he has with the members of the Style Boyz. But when you look back you kind of have to wonder if its totally a story worth telling, especially with how goofy the movie is through its entirety.

I’ve been watching a lot of Brooklyn 99 recently and I’ve watched Andy Samberg since his days on SNL. I think the guy knows he’s not a world class actor so he keeps on doing these really goofy roles. They work for him what can I say? He’s funny, he gets a laugh and he knows how to poke fun at the tropes and conventions we see in every movie that they’re making fun of in this one. When I first saw the trailers for this film, I didn’t really understand how they could turn him into a Justin Bieber popstar, and at a certain point, they don’t exactly succeed, but that almost makes it funnier. The Lonely Island have never been known to take themselves too seriously and it’s a silly mockumentary, its not supposed to be taken too seriously.

Deciding on whether or not you see this movie is really dependent on your humor. There are literal dick jokes in this movie… like you see a penis, straight up. If you enjoy the Lonely Island songs, you’re going to get a couple of those in her and they’re funny. It’s not a movie that is going to go down as a classic because while its funny, it has some pacing issues and the characters are not really that relatable. But the format and the absurd humor is funny for something that you might see on Netflix and say what the hell. I don’t think it’s a waste of time, I just don’t think you need to go out of your way to see Popstar. Worse movies are out there, but there are certainly better ones. Popstar is really nothing to write home about.

But those are my thoughts. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I’ll leave you with this. Here's the Lonely Island on Jimmy Fallon doing a rendition of I'm on a Boat, arguably their most famous song. Enjoy!