Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2005)

What makes Jiminy Glick in Lalawood special is how it turns Martin Short’s gloriously shameless blowhard into a full-blown comic hurricane, then lets him tear through celebrity culture with a grin and a mouth full of buffet. The movie’s best laughs come from its loose, improvised energy—those moments where interviews and encounters feel like they’re wobbling on the edge of disaster, and that’s exactly why they’re so funny. Set against the glitter and glad-handing of a film festival, it’s a witty, gossipy send-up that loves the circus even as it skewers it, with cameos that know how to play along rather than steal the show. If you don’t enjoy awkward, cringey, in-your-face satire, this may test your patience—but if you do, it’s a surprisingly brilliant little time capsule of fame, vanity, and comedic nerve.

Jiminy Glick in Lalawood is trying to turn Martin Short’s obnoxiously confident, shamelessly intrusive interviewer into a full-length comedy with a festival setting and a “celebrity scandal” hook. The problem is it often feels like a single character bit inflated past its limits: loose, repetitive, and more crude than clever, with jokes that land like improvisation that should’ve been edited down. If you don’t already love Jiminy’s sweaty, invasive persona and can’t enjoy a movie that runs on awkwardness and name-dropping more than story, this will feel thin and pointless. That said, Short commits hard and a few celebrity moments do spark, but they’re not enough to carry the whole ride for most viewers.