The Movie
Anyone over 25 can probably remember Pauly Shore, whether for his special brand of idiocy on MTV, or his string of how-did-that-get-made movies, including Encino Man, In the Army Now, Biodome and Son-in-Law. Though few will admit it today, he was quite popular in his day, but as a one-note jester, his act had a short shelf-life, and today, he's more of a novelty than a bonafide star. Apparently, Pauly Shore is Dead was the attempt to change that. It didn't work.

It never hurts for a has-been to have a sense of humor about their place in the celebrity pantheon. William Shatner has his role down perfectly, and to this day maintains a solid fan base because of it, not in spite of it. This film seems to understand that at first, poking fun at Shore's early work, the role of nepotism in his accension to the top and his rapid decent. But as the plot progresses, the movie loses its way, unbelievably taking itself way too seriously. Though the themes of being true to one's limitations, accepting fate and the stupidity of the cult of dead celebrities work, it seems like the movie is trying to make the case that Shore is an underappreciated talent. I guess if you sink your own time and effort into a project (and you're the star, writer, director and producer), it's likely going to take your viewpoint, but some self-control has to practiced before a flick becomes ridiculous.

The story here is, with the failure of his self-titled sitcom on Fox, his career has hit a nadir, and he can't dig himself out of the failure hole he's fallen into. He is "the Weasel," for better or worse, and right now, it's the absolute worst. So sort-of-following the advice of his dead friend, comic Sam Kinison (you'll need to see it to understand), he fakes his death and hides out in Los Angeles to see the results. Predictably, celebrities are tripping over themselves to pay tribute to a "comic genius." Shore feels vindicated, but risks overplaying his hand in order to bask in some of his new-found glory. People only love him because he's dead, so if they find out he's alive, he'll find out what they really think.

It's a predictable run to the finish from there, with a strange subplot about a depressed and psychotic Southern bumpkin whose world revolved around Pauly (amazingly, on the commentary, Shore insults these very people who made him a star.) The film is filled with the most celebrity cameos this side of Cannonball Run 2, resulting in a very hit-or-miss record as far as their success. Suffice to say, it's an interesting movie when Kato Kaelin and Carrot Top give some of the best and most believable performances. But it's not just B- and C-listers populating this film. There are some major stars who found themselves roped into being a part of this circus. A simple rule of thumb would be to consider who was at MTV during Shore's reign at the top of the food chain. That should help you figure it out.

It's hard to slam a guy when he's put so much into a movie, but in listening to the commentary and simply watching the film, it's obvious that this is not a very good movie. It took five years to make and, based on some of the deleted scene and bonus material, has gone through several manifestations, before becoming the rough-edged movie delivered on this disc. Considering this, there seems to be a genuine lack of any kind of foresight involved, whether in terms of the script or filming, as Shore produced just an average film with an extremely well-known cast. There are plenty of "actors" (read: friends of Shore) in this movie who can't act and too many jokes that are right out of the '70s. That it actually made it to the screen without a studio may be something of a triumph of independent filmmaking, but as a movie, it's weak overall, and doesn't preceed a second coming of Pauly Shore. He probably should have teamed up with some of his celebrity friends that know what they are doing behind a camera.

The DVD
This DVD is a two-sided affair, with the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer on one side, a full-screen version on the other. A mildly animated aspect ratio-appropriate main menu provides options for scene selections, languages and special features. The scene selections feature still previews, while the language options include English 5.1 Dolby and Pauly Shore commentary 2.0 (more about that in the Extras section,) as well as English and Spanish subtitles.

The Quality
Shot on HD, the video is very clear, but looks like a TV show, rather than a film, especially due to the use of fade-outs. Pauly Shore is Dead is about as crystal clear as possible, without any digital concerns, dirt or grain. The colors tend to be a bit muted, possibly due to the lighting, but overall, the movie looks good. The audio, presented in 5.1 Surround, is somewhat overkill, for a film with a very staid comedy mix, but the dialogue and music are crisply separated.

The Extras
On both sides of the disc, there's an unusual screen-specific commentary with Shore, a track that is boring, yet manic; loaded, yet saying nothing. Shore rarely stops talking, basically describing what's going on on-screen, though at times he delves a bit deeper, telling some stories about how scenes come together and how he got stars to appear in his flick. There's only so many times you can listen to him praise a scene, point out a friend or announce a cameo before you want to turn off the sound. Curiously, during a scene with Tommy Chong, the commentary goes dead, and then returns when he's off-screen. One wonders what Shore said.

The rest of the extras are found only on the widescreen side. The biggest section of the DVD is the "Celebrity Host Wraps," where rappers Eminem and Proof "introduce" each segment in lame black-and-white bits that seem to have been shot in one take with no rehersal. In fact, they don't even seem to know what it is they are introducing. There are two awkward sets of deleted scenes, one hosted by Shore and the Hilton sisters, Paris and Nikki, the other by Shore and Charlie Sheen. The scenes cut featured even more cameos, including questionable performances by Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland, the Offspring's Dexter Holland, Vincent Pastore, Emmanuel Lewis and Scott Schwartz. Normally you can say that deleted scenes deserved to be cut, but sadly, as bad as these are, they would have fit right into the movie.

Unfortunately, there are more Eminem/Proof intros, as Stain'd's Aaron Lewis sings a parody of his band's popular song, "It's Been A While," with new Shore-related lyrics, in a cringe-worthy moment. A bit better is "Making My Movie," a mix of behind-the-scene footage and retrospective, as Shore talks about what went into making a movie on his own, with the video footage to illustrate what he's talking about. According to his website, Shore seemed to be making a feature-length "making of" film about Pauly Shore is Dead. What he ended up with is the 16-minute featurette that's tucked away on the second page of "Celebrity Host Wraps." The footage is mildly interesting, with lots of scenes with the cameo stars, and may be of most interest to celeb worshippers and indie filmmakers.

The "Interrogating the Wiez" featurette runs just under 15 minutes, and observes Shore at a screening and Q&A for his film at Cal State Fullerton. In the same vein as "An Evening with Kevin Smith," Shore takes questions from film students and fans about the industry and himself. He's not nearly as funny, and the screening is obviously sparsely attended, but there's some insight into filmmaking and the film at hand. The footage is presented in letterboxed widescreen and edited well. It's actually more enjoyable than anything else on the DVD, though it was probably like torture for those sitting in the room.

The Bottom Line
Shore supposedly spent five years making this movie, and yet, somehow, in all that time, no one told him it was a bad idea. If it had been a darkly comedic send-up of celebrity and obscurity, it could have been quite good, and may have actually jump-started Shore's career. Instead, it's basically a TV-movie love letter from Shore to himself. Your personal enjoyment of this movie will depend primarily on your love of The Wiez. But even if you're a loyal devotee, it's not much better than a rental. The DVD gives the movie a better presentation than it really deserves, with a decent selection of extras. Combined with the amazing amount of celebrity cameos, the presentation will make at least one viewing worthwhile for viewers.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.