Light, irreverent, occasionally hilarious, yet toothless and oddly worshipful of pop music’s fakeness, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping amuses until it doesn’t anymore. Numbing inanities inch out clever spoofs. Andy Samberg and Sarah Silverman’s talents attempt to outweigh flabby one-joke riffs that go on too long. The whole thing is a tossup between clever and silly. Clever tries real hard but doesn’t stand much of a chance. If this mockumentary is another This Is Spinal Tap, Money Monsters is Dog Day Afternoon.
The film’s highlights and, simultaneously, its lowlights, include a rap sendup on the assassination of Bin Laden, a unique wedding proposal between Samberg and Imogen Poots involving the singer Seal and a pack of wolves, and celebrity artists Qwestlove, Usher and others offering onscreen testimonials on the influence of The Style Boyz, Samberg’s Beastie Boys-gone-Seventeen Magazine formulative rap group.
Everyone from Justin Timberlake to Michael Bolton to Mariah Carey is on board. At the core of the merry mess is Samberg and Lonely Island partners in crime Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, both of who co-directed. The three lads co-wrote the screenplay and also portray the aforementioned Style Boyz, popular forerunners to the more calculated solo career of Conner4Real (Samberg). Their hit is “The Donkey Roll,” which somehow manages to be as lame as it sounds, dumdum choreography notwithstanding.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping pays lip service to spoofing its subject but can’t resist kissing its ass. I had a little fun but felt afterward an immediate need to either listen to a real band or watch a real satire.