Hey Bud-dy, not bad for a Weasel

PAULY SHORE STANDS ALONE (2014) 

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I could never stand Pauly Shore comedies. His weaselly, laid-back shtick, his basic stand-up act that transferred to films, always had me grating my teeth and sighing. I found him to be insufferable and unwatchable, though I never once watched any of his stand-up. "Pauly Shore Stands Alone" is directed by the comedian, now in his mid-40's, and it shows him on a Wisconsin/Minnesota comedy tour dealing with enlarged prostate issues and seeking sex with alleged groupies and a club booker named Patience.

Pauly describes right at the start of the film that he has some money problems, and is thinking of selling his home on the Hollywood Hills (he currently rents out his massive mansion). His mother (Mitzi Shore, who owned the Comedy Store) is sick with Parkinson's, thus also complicating his relationship with his siblings. Pauly goes on a comedy tour at strip clubs and other venues where comics often get their feet wet, not when they are in their 40's. Of course, I could be wrong since Pauly's reasoning is that comics should venture out to places where the real people live (and presumably at strip malls, too). We see only brief clips of his stand-up act; instead more time is spent watching him urinate than tell jokes (to be fair, the jokes are juvenile at best yet they made me smile more than any of his substandard movies did).

Still, despite a melancholic air of desperation about this documentary, the very feeling that Pauly is still known around the country and he has major fans (including one girl who wears a "I Love Pauly" T-shirt and bites his ass on stage) brings him much needed cheer from the family difficulties back home. I felt a little sympathy for the Weasel, but do not ask me to revisit his crappy movies again.