Miss March is a 2009 American sex comedy that was overtaken by other national comedies due to excessive sexualisation, starring and co-directed by Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger of “The Whitest Kids U’ Know”. Just like Moore and Cregger’s previous work, this film tries to caricature teenage sexuality. However, unlike American pie, this film has bizarre storytelling, absurd slapstick, and outrageous humor refreshing in the genre.
Miss March aimed to combine road trip themes with absurdly humorous satires of modern celebrity culture in a desperate bid to reignite spark in a genre that has lost its lustre, becoming stale with over-the-top portrayals of promiscuous women epitomised by the likes of Playboy.
Synopsis
The film starts off with a coming-of-age stereotype, Tucker Cleigh (played by Trevor Moore) and Eugene Bell (played by Zach Cregger) as high school seniors. Eugene is a sweet but timid man deeply in love with his long time girlfriend, Cindi Whitehall (Raquel Alessi), and is quite the pleaser in the relationship, making him promise that he will not wish to have marital relations until he is married. However, Cindi fully expects nothing less than to seal the deal on prom night.
The prom night event comes, and with a string of bad luck for Eugene—having Tucker’s stuffing booze in him and his friend pressuring him into drinking—he tumbles down the stairs and ends up in a coma. Miraculously, this takes place for four years.
Eugene’s world looks daunting to him now. His parents are non-existent, his girlfriend is nowhere to be seen, and the faces that used to populate high school halls are long gone. To his surprise and despair, Eugene’s girlfriend Cindi has posed for the centerfold of a Playboy issue as their “Miss March” print.
To win back his love and make sense of her bewildering change, Eugene has decided to go on a chaotic trip to the Playboy Mansion with Tucker. The two run into a series of weirdos, embarrassing sexual incidents, Tucker’s obsession with Horsedick.MPEG (a character played by Craig Robinson), ex-girlfriends hell bent on vengeance, and even some angry firefighters which delve headfirst into madness.
With the impending trip that will stretch across the country, Eugene learns the responsibilities that come with growing up.
Cast & Characters
Zach Cregger as Eugene Bell: The socially awkward protagonist that comes out of a coma and learns that he must reintegrate into society in the most bizarre manner imaginable.
Trevor Moore as Tucker Cleigh: Eugene’s best friend and a small boy trapped in the body of an adult whose interests predominantly include sex. He is a fuelling source of trouble and disorder at every moment.
Raquel Alessi as Cindi Whitehall: Eugene’s ex-girlfriend who has lost a lot of her former self and is now a Playboy model.
Molly Stanton as Candace: Tucker’s girlfriend who is an epileptic with anger issues.
Craig Robinson as Horsedick.MPEG: An imaginary rapper that is surprisingly pivotal to the plot.
Robert Wagner as Hugh Hefner: The PlayBoy’s dad is appearing in a cameo role bringing his surreal essence into the picture.
Themes and Approaching a Tone
There have been no attempts made to disguise the laughter lacking Miss March with a noble depth or complex morality, though add attemptfordeal foolishly, to a number of known comedic themes:
- Adolescence and Masturbation.
The film focuses on Eugene and his struggle with an overwhelming virginity, peer pressure, and the character enjoying the love or at least lust of a girlfriend. The stark juxtaposition and the unbridled world that Eugene’s naive mindset has kept him isolated becomes comically ridiculous. Instead of harsh commentary movie aims for completely surreal absurdity.
- Male Friendship
The male friendship of relevance on this occasion is that of Eugene and Tucker. Their emotionally co-dependent, ever so slightly toxic friendship is the primary conflict of the story and also drives much of the plot. The constant comedic friction in the film comes from Eugene’s anxiety and Tucker’s unfettered enthusiasm.
- Fame, Fantasy, and Reality
The Playboy Mansion subplot serves to ridicule modeling and contemporary fandom. The film also symbolically ridicules the Playboy lifestyle for lost love and broken expectations while at the same time using it as a metaphor for lost love and shattered expectations.
Reception and Criticism
Miss March was ripped to shreds by critics. Like most contemporary spoof films, it was bashed for its poor attempts at humor, originality, use of low brow shock comedy, and gross out gags for the sake of it. It holds a very low rating on major review aggregators and was a commercial disappointment.
Critics found the unfocused comedic pace and lackluster performance to be terribly bizarre. The attempt to copy the format of American puberty films such as American Pie or Superbad was not met graciously without vice clever writing, character development, or personality. The context of unfunny jokes also became too offensive for simple dislike or due poor execution.
Nevertheless, the movie was able to acquire a niche following among fans of quirky and absurd comedy who enjoyed the hilariously chaotic dynamics between the two leads.
Cultural Impact and Legacy
Miss March may not have received significant attention from critics and audiences alike, but the film encapsulates an era in 2000s cinema that revolves overwhelmingly around shocking humor, juvenile male dialogue and exaggerated male friendships. It joins a host of films from that era where outrageous stunts took precedence over logic, coherence, or sentimentality.
For the followers of The Whitest Kids U’ Know, the film served as an infrequent glimpse into the comedic works of two cast members turned stars of the troupe at full-length features. The adaptation from skits to a full narrative story proved to be more challenging than anticipated.
Over time, the film has shifted to being appreciated mainly out of curiosity rather than admiration. Unlike before, many of the jokes made in the film are considered problematic by today’s standards which renders the film a relic of bold humor from the late 2000s.
Conclusion
Miss March is a haphazard, sometimes childish journey in the domain of sexuality, celebrity culture, and social relationships. It misses the mark on the more laughable aspects of successful teen comedies, but does create a certain absurdist flavor, catering to fans of road trip films graciously filled with slapstick humor.
With its downright bizarre characters and bizarre setups, unabashedly filthy jokes, and lack of virtue, Miss March does not qualify as a masterpiece in the traditional sense as there are no redeeming aspects. However, it does serve the people willing to plunge into this murky pool with an unfiltered exhilarating experience.
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