GO West movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Go West

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 22 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

The story is about a crazy group of pioneers who braved the harsh elements and numerous mishaps to travel thousands of miles out west to find a place to call home.

The film was directed by Stephen Meek and Jeremy Warner. Writing credits go to Adam Berg, Whitney Call, and Mallory Everton.

The cast came from a group of college students at Brigham Young University who performed in a comedy troupe called Studio C. Since graduating, they’re known as JK! Studios. I’m so happy for them and their success. Congratulations on making a feature film together! Their true-blue fans will definitely get a kick out of this campy flick.

THINGS I LIKED:

The comedic cast includes Natalie Madsen, Whitney Call, Stephen Meek, Matthew Meese, Jason Gray, Mallory Everton, Jeremy Warner, James Perry, Stacey Harkey, Adam Berg, Ruth Clarke, Matt Moen, and many more. Almost all of them played more than one character, showcasing their versatile talents.
The title has previously been used in a Buster Keaton movie in 1925, then in another movie in 1940 with the Marx Brothers. The 1979 song by The Village People, which was later covered by the Petshop Boys in 1992, is featured in this movie.
I adore Sean Astin and loved him in The Lord of the Rings. (Best movie trilogy ever!) His character in that movie says, “Potatoes…boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in your shoe.” Loved it. We hear that same line used by one of the characters in this movie as a sweet nod to Sean Astin as the narrator. Nice touch.
There’s a random musical number that’s actually pretty funny.
The film was written by JK! Studios themselves, but there are also gems in the film when cast members improv’d many lines, enhancing the script. For example, the “I want to watch a man go over a waterfall…” moment in the campfire scene was delivered by Mallory Everton spontaneously.
Jeremy Warner acted in the film, co-directed the film, co-wrote the film, did most of the editing, and much of the special effects, as well as all of the musical score used in the film.
They filmed in Utah, mostly outdoors, from October 15 to Nov 11, 2022, to get the movie in the can before winter. The weather quickly turned frigid and began to snow halfway through their shoot. Luckily, it was in sequence, so most of the snow worked for them and they ended up with some perfectly snowy backgrounds on set as a result. While the snow was beautiful to look at, it made for very cold filming sessions throughout the production.
Stacey Harkey actually played in a couple of video ads for a dating app my son invented called Mutual.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Not all of the humor lands, but sometimes, the writers knock it out of the park.
I adore Mallory Everton, so I was disappointed that she didn’t get to play more characters and show off her wide range.