[Review] Eric Andre’s ‘Bad Trip’ Is Hidden Camera Goodness With Heart

Bad Trip is a movie in the vein of Jackass, or Bad Grandpa. In fact, it comes from Jeff Tremaine, who made both of those movies. In this one, it feels even more uncomfortable because it’s a new generation of comic actors and direction, directed by Kitao Sakurai, running the show. Eric Andre, Lil Rey Howery, Tiffany Haddish, and Michaela Conlin star alongside whatever unwitting people they’re getting one over on. You can check out Bad Trip on Netflix starting Friday, March 26th.

The official synopsis from Netflix goes like this:

From one of the guys that brought you Jackass and Bad Grandpa, this hidden camera comedy follows two best friends as they go on a cross-country road trip full of hilarious, inventive pranks, pulling its real-life audience into the mayhem.

Right off the bat, if you don’t like movies like this, that sort of combine a plot with MTV style pranks, you won’t want to watch this film. Outside of that, it was a hugely enjoyable experience. Eric Andre’s brand of comedy is not for everyone. For the people that do enjoy it, he’s one of the funniest and brightest people on the planet. That doesn’t change in this film. His normally unhinged comedy from the Eric Andre Show is toned down a bit. That doesn’t detract from the overall film though. Let’s dig into the details a bit more here.

“Uncomfortable, But Hilarious” Describes It Best

The film at it’s very core is a road buddy movie. You have Eric Andre’s Chris and Lil Rey Howery’s Bud trying to meet up with Chris’s dream girl, Maria, played by Michaela Conlin. Interspersed are scenes with real people reacting to the various outrageous events that Chris and Bud get themselves into. Whether that’s Chris drinking too much and puking everywhere, or Bud falling into a Port-A-Pottie. These are very human reactions to these events.

Bud and Chris are tailed by Bud’s sister Trina, played by Tiffany Haddish. They steal her car to make the cross-country trip, and have to deal with her chasing them down. The plot and prank scenes are pretty seamless, obviously you can tell when they’re filming with the hidden cameras and when they’re shooting with the nicer cameras. The filmmakers did a good job of trying to make that less noticeable though.

With these types of movies, sometimes the performances are lost in all the action though. In this one, even if Eric Andre is unhinged, he and Howery give performances that are full of heart. It’s strange to see, similar to Bad Grandpa, the relationship between the two main characters feels real. That’s a testament to their performances, and you can see it in their big “make-up” scene near the end of the film.

Hilarity Involving A Gorilla Sex-Act/Chinese Finger Trap

It’s a simple plot, but it works. The movie moves from scene to scene, place to place, but it all works pretty well. I won’t spoil the funniest scene in the movie, but it involves a Gorilla and Chris. There aren’t any spots in the film that feel like they flat out, don’t work. After seeing the during-credits footage, there was plenty more that they could have added to the film. It feels like they got the absolute best shots for the feature though. The only thing that feels a ‘bit’ off, is the epilogue of sorts. It’s there just for laughs and doesn’t really add anything to the plot besides paying off a White Chicks joke.

At the end of the day, this isn’t a film for people who have the proverbial stick up their ass. If you have a sense of humor, you’ll find all you want out of Bad Trip. Tiffany Haddish shines (as always) as Trina, being immensely menacing, while also yelling at random people about her brother stealing her car.

Eric Andre has a bright future, and this movie just goes to show that. If you’re in need of a hearty laugh, Bad Trip is just for you. The film has major heart, and it knows it. Through huge laughs and seamless transitions, Bad Trip is a great hour and a half trip of comedy.

For more on Netflix, stay tuned to That Hashtag Show.