1504. Laid In America (2016)

Starring: Olajide Olatunji, Caspar Lee, Angela Trimbur

Director: Sam Milman, Peter Vass

Running Time: 85 mins

Laid In America is an American film about two foreign exchange students who attempt to finally get laid on their last night in the USA, however their attempts are soon interrupted after they find themselves kidnapped by an eccentric criminal.

My expectations going into this film were insanely low, and that’s why it ended up being a slightly pleasant surprise. There’s no doubting that Laid In America isn’t a good film, but judging by the YouTube genre’s history on the big screen, it’s nowhere near as bad and irritating as it could have been, and even provided a couple of chuckles along the way.

Although YouTubers KSI and Caspar Lee are hugely popular, that doesn’t guarantee this film will have the same genre of comedy as their videos. Looking at last year’s flagship YouTube movie, Smosh: The Movie, it was more than likely that the writing would be totally different from their five-minute videos, however that’s not always something to cry about.

In truth, whilst there’s very little to be impressed by in this film, Laid In America does something that I definitely didn’t expect: tell a coherent story. Although idiotic and uninteresting, the simple but solid structure of the film, following the two as they attempt to escape their captors and then return to their adventures at parties, means that you do get a surprisingly consistent rhythm throughout the movie, something that helps massively to keep you at least moderately engaged in what’s going on.

Also, the comedy wasn’t as awful as I had expected. Again, Smosh: The Movie was a clear demonstration that stretching YouTube videos, which rely on quick, punchy comedy, out over a feature length, doesn’t work, however there were a few moments in Laid In America that actually got a chuckle out of me.

Again, it’s by no means comedic genius, and the majority of the jokes fall flat, but the fact that there is the odd enjoyable gag, along with the film’s amazing ability to make so much juvenile and gross-out humour not infuriatingly annoying, means it’s not a painful watch. That may not be the greatest complement in the world, but it’s far better than what this film was most likely to have done.

Despite those surprising positives, this film still isn’t that good. The energetic performances from the leading duo do little to add entertainment to the generally dull atmosphere, and the script does very little to give you an insight into the characters themselves, portraying the two guys as nothing more than sex-crazed teenagers.

It’s an American Pie-esque affair, and one that doesn’t quite do the job well enough. Although it’s not such an irritating watch, Laid In America definitely isn’t as funny as it wants to be, and its story, whilst consistent, is wafer-thin and pretty uninteresting, so that’s why I’m giving it a 5.5.