“… didn’t feel like a movie so much as it did a cheap way to connect a few sketches and promote a website.”

I want to start this review by saying that I am a fan of Trailer Park Boys; mind you not a massive fan, but a fan nonetheless. That being said, when I watched Swearnet a lot of the comedy didn’t click for me. Swearnet, for those who don’t know, is a movie written by, and starring, Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, and Mike Smith or as you probably know them, Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles respectively. These geniuses (and I do mean that sincerely) who created Trailer Park Boys embark on their new adventure to create their own network, where they can do and say whatever they want, called Swearnet. They are joined by old friends as they embark on their mission, but really that’s where the movie falls apart; their mission is ever-changing.

Swearnet is a film that I did not expect to be Oscar-worthy, but I did kind of expect it to be coherent. The problem I have with Swearnet is the fact that the plot of the film, to make an uncensored network on the internet, really only acts as an excuse for the boys that we know and love to do really crazy shit. I’m fine with the movie being a commercial for the real Swearnet, but I’m not fine with the movie forgetting the fact that it is a movie. The movie shifts gears (pun-intended) to a movie about participating in a race. Of course, this is all being “filmed” for Swearnet, but that is not really an excuse to push the original goal of the movie to the side. I would have loved to see a movie where these guys legitimately try to start a network, but unfortunately what I got was a glorified Jackass but with a script. Even despite all of this, the story felt really forced. Problems were only brought up because movies are supposed to have problems, and the ending “scheme” didn’t make a lick of sense. “But you shouldn’t care about the plot, this movie was meant to be a comedy!”, and while I do agree with that I would counter by saying that comedies are supposed to be funny. Not that Swearnet is exactly unfunny, it’s just that the “comedy” only comes from the boys insulting one another as well as a gratuitous amount of dicks. While this did manage to get a few chuckles out of me (as I’m sure it would for any fans of Trailer Park Boys), it got old fast. You can really only call someone a cocksucker so many times (although I will applaud them for insult creativity) before it stops being a punchline. The movie did however showcase stars of the highest calibre, Tom Green and Carrot Top, and though this felt forced much like the plot, I did laugh at Tom Green’s delivery of his lines.

There were also more specific issues that I had with Swearnet. The first one being that about halfway through the movie something big happens, which seemingly stops the movie in its tracks. This is then dealt with by all of the character acting as if nothing happened not 20 minutes later. It was confusing to me because it seemed like there was a time-jump, but in fact it was just bizarre writing. The next issue I have was that of the love story that gets forced into the film during the last third. Much like the rest of the “issues” in the movie, this had no reason being there and it felt like it was presented only because that’s what people expect to happen in movies. On the upside, the movie was very well shot as well as well acted (even though the characters were essentially being themselves), so it is unfortunate that the movie at its core is flawed.

Ultimately Swearnet didn’t feel like a movie so much as it did a cheap way to connect a few sketches and promote a website. If you are a diehard fan of Trailer Park Boys then you will probably like this move; but if you are not then I would steer clear because it just isn’t funny enough to call itself a comedy.

I give Swearnet a C