It was incredibly dark, extremely political... and it was funny.
In theory, comedy junkie that I am, I should be the target audience for a feature-length documentary about National Lampoon, especially one with the participation of Sean Kelly, Christopher Cerf, Tony Hendra, Bruce McCall, P.J. O'Rourke, Anne Beatts, Michael McConnachie, Michael Gross, and Chris Miller. In practice, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon didn't tell me much that I didn't already know about the magazine and the media empire it spawned and personalities that brought it into being.
Hopscotching from its origins at Harvard to the magazine's early growing pains, then on to its left-field success and branching out into other areas with the Radio Dinner LP, Lemmings stage show, the 1964 High School Yearbook Parody, the Radio Hour and beyond, director Douglas Tirola has a lot of ground to cover in 95 minutes and does so without going into sufficient detail on any one area. (I almost feel like he should have limited himself to just the five years that co-founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard were in charge. The fact that he starts wrapping things up soon after Kenney's untimely demise in 1980 says a lot about where the film's heart truly lies.) Still, Tivola does manage to corral a who's who of Lampoon staffers (those that are still with us, that is), and for that reason alone Drunk Stoned is worth a look. It just doesn't delve as deep as it could have.