WET AND RECKLESS

Stars: Jason Trost, Lucas Till, Scout Taylor-Compton and Sean Whalen.
Writer/Director: Jason Trost.

Rating: 3.5/5

It takes a little while to become accustomed to the shrill, obnoxious coarseness employed by multi-hyphenate Jason Trost in his third feature, Wet and Reckless. But the sheer relentlessness of his reality show douche-bag parody should win over anyone who discovers it via the web-based promotion and self-distribution model Trost is adhering to. But be warned; Mike Nichols it ain’t.

Reteaming with his All Superheroes Must Die accomplice Lucas Till, Trost continues his cinematic dissection of pop culture influences with far less money but far more fearlessness than any of his works to date. Not as fluid as his urban dance culture piss-take The FP but an all round more enjoyable romp than …Superheroes, Trost’s latest is a skewering of the roided-up ‘Jersey Shore’ types and self-absorbed manscapers that dominate and desecrate US cable nets.

In addition to just about all behind-camera roles, Trost plays ‘The Lobo’, the foul-mouthed marine vet with a ‘f*** anything’ attitude to women and ‘try anything’ attitude to life. His bestie is Till’s dim, slightly mincy Toby aka ‘Dollars’, a successful baby-model whose precociousness has developed into full-blown self-love. Together they star on The PPD, a worthless reality concept that is quietly fading from relevance – a development that our heroes have no notion of.

When sent to Thailand with newbie Sonya, aka ‘Turbo’ (a game, very funny Scout Taylor-Compton) in tow, they think life will be one big debauched rave (which it is, for a while; the trio clearly had fun filming the party scenes). But when it is revealed that the stars have been abandoned by their producers, it is up to the group to get their shit together, find some rubies Lobo’s father once spoke of, defeat Russian gangsters and get the hell outta Thailand with time to save their ‘careers’.

Clearly improvised at every turn and, one would guess, shot totally guerrilla style sans permits or government assistance in any way, it is not an inconsiderable feat for Trost, Till and Taylor-Compton to have maintained such aggressively boisterous characterisations for the duration of the shoot. These are not people you want to get stuck with at a party, but as caricatures of the worst type of modern celebrity, they work a treat.

Though preposterous and implausible in equal measure, it is nevertheless genuinely funny in parts. His signature eye-patch in place (he has admitted it is not an affectation – he is blind in that eye), Trost reveals himself to be comic of deft timing and quick wit. Crudities abound, but Wet and Reckless also exhibits some sweetness in its examination of out-of-control machismo; there is just enough sentimentality to counter the crassness.