ShareThisThe title "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights -- Hollywood to the Heartland" gives a fair impression of what's in the movie. But the rambling assortment of words meant for movie marquees falls short of conveying the raucous, energetic spirit of this comic delight.The documentary tells the story of a September 2005 comedy tour conceived by Vaughn and arranged with lightning speed. The actor picked four comedians/friends to take on the road with the insane intention of having them perform 30 nights in a row in 30 different cities.Ahmed Ahmed, Bret Ernst, John Caparulo and Sebastian Maniscalco gamely agreed, and the group, along with director Ari Sandel and various producers and other crew members, loaded up into buses and started heading from California east.The result is a mixture of hilarious performances and telling behind-the-scenes footage. Onstage, the men deliver night after night, while backstage, on the bus and in various towns their personal stories unfold, complete with bittersweet drama and laughs.The tour also includes some of Vaughn's actor friends -- including "Swingers" co-star and writer Jon Favreau and "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" and "The Break-Up" co-star Justin Long, perhaps best known as the Mac guy from TV commercials, who does a screamingly funny impression of Vaughn.Sandel gets the highs and lows of the tour, including Vaughn interacting with one of his heroes. But nothing can match the impact of the comedians' experience in the part of the country recently devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.Sandel serves healthy portions of stage antics, though viewers are bound to want more. That probably will come with the DVD, or with specials that turn up on Comedy Central. What's more important is witnessing the seriousness of being funny and appreciating the comics for being far more than class clowns.The "Wild West Comedy Show" is a potent portrait of performers driven to pursue their craft.Rated R for pervasive language and sex-related humor.Four stars (out of five).(Contact Betsy Pickle of The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee at www.knoxnews.com.)
'Wild West' a raucous comedy shootout
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