Miss March: Overview
“Miss March” is a comedy film focusing on a road trip taken by the protagonist. Released in 2009, starring Bret Harrison , Raquel Alessi alongside Zach Cregger and directed by him and Trevor Moore, the film showcases girl next door culture as the former love of the protagonist turns out to be a Play boy model but this sentiment based act of romance collides with awkwardness bringing out crude humor akin to American Pie produced under low budget defending harsh reviews during its release.
Plot Summary
Guilt stricken Eugene Gelvan played by Bret Harrison manages a Washington D.C copy shop after enduring a break up is anything but motivated heartbreaks coupled with an unexciting professional life leads to dull unfulfilling routine. This changes when one of his closest friends decides to run over someone while working late forcing pessimistic yet motivational Tucker Cleigh played by Zach Cregger to go to prison which makes him want to compensate for Emiliy Alessi or rather cut ties completely because high school sweethearts tend gear towards problems.
Seven years later, Eugene discovers that Emily is Playboy’s Playmate of the Month. Now feeling a mix of yearning and remorse, Eugene searches for rekindled romance. After locating Tucker, the two set out on a comical cross-country road trip to Los Angeles. Their journey consists of sexual misadventures, toilet humor galore, and encounters with ex-lovers, bickering parents, and toy machines filled with angry capitalism.
Through their travels, Eugene grapples with confronting Emily’s new reality while navigating his old emotions. Simultaneously, Tucker transitions from sidekick to antagonist as he begins to doubt the plan. Hollywood brings surreal tangents for Eugene: fervent fan engagements paired PR theatrics and meetings with plastic surgeons promising ludicrous enhancements. Ultimately George confronts Emily at Playboy Mansion in a chaotic altercation where he finally comes to terms that it’s not her he loved all those years ago but rather the idea of her. This epiphany allows him to renew relationships back home along with reconciling apologies owed to Tucker embracing fidelity and rediscovered friendship.
Characters & Performances
Eugene Gelvan (Bret Harrison)
Plays the quintessential “nice guy” trapped under layers of self-doubt paired with lofty aspirations on-side Harrison embodies this role fully as Eugenes internal conflict captures part idealism intertwined with embers of deep-rooted shame which suffers through Everett’s gentle charm in self-deprecation alongside burst moments play Jefferson Park’s honorary suitor shaping drifter whole arc stemming throughout film.【87†source】
Tucker Cleigh (Zach Cregger)
Cregger plays Tucker, one half of a writing-directing duo. He portrays Tucker as an overly enthusiastic friend who adds unnecessary difficulties to every situation. In this particular case, his performance is energetic and zany infuses the story with so much energy it sometimes comes at the cost of believability.
Emily St. James (Raquel Alessi)
As Eugene’s former classmate turned Playmate, Alessi’s character is multifaceted yet restricted. She embodies conflicting fantasies— genuine affection mixed with the distance of fame. In portraying Emily, Alessi makes her grounded and approachable which avoids stereotype despite being in a shallow role.
Supporting Cast
The film also features Hugh Hefner playing himself in a comical cameo, Tucker’s prison guard father, Eugene’s parents, and Carmen Electra making a brief appearance. Their performances lack critical depth, embodying standard raunch-comedy stereotypes but chasing laughter instead.
Direction, Style & Humor
With Miss March, Zach Cregger and Trevor Moore bring their trademark breakneck pace alongside lowbrow humor to the film. Aesthetically bright and visually saturated with flashy signage, goofy transitions, and comic stylization seeking to mimic adult swim’s brand of innocence but extended to feature-length form. The differentiation between straight up gross-out humor i.e., sexual innuendoes through jokes and objectified gags tempered by earnest emotion is stark because it aims to deliver swift laughs over coherence within plot framework.Miss March depends heavily on physical comedy and awkward moments, like an unsuitable wedding toast during the ceremony. Other scenes include humiliating comparisons at Burger King, sexist assumptions at meetings—where plastic surgeries are discussed—and stumbling through Hugh Hefner’s mismatched luxury tied mansion. Slurs and misread signals pepper the dialogue which often attempts shock value and crosses the line into tastelessness.
Little attention is given to smooth tonal transitions. One moment a scene builds up dramatically only for it to cut to slapstick mud puddle laughter in the next. Despite aesthetic and comedic flaws, there is attempt to ground things emotionally in Eugene’s journey of self-discovery and closure.
Themes & Emotional Subtext
Unreciprocated love, moving on
At its core Miss March is a story about letting go. Eugene idealizes Emily and becomes obsessed with memories that stunts emotional growth. Love means change, not reuniting.
Friendship And Loyalty
This dynamic between Eugene and Tucker retains an absurdity while remaining emotionally rooted; they endure betrayal, embarrassment, bad advice, yet their friendship survives all odds. At journey’s end, revealing a deeper moral: friendship matters far more than cocktails or fantasies in epicurean revelries underscores his sincerity to mend their bond.Fame vs Normalcy
The Hollywood and Playboy empires, alongside social media, exemplify the contrast of organic emotional connections versus superficial ones. Eugene’s humorously tragic spin on ‘losing’ at Hef’s pool party entails the question: Is fame a means to an end or does it reflect profound solitude?
Escapism vs Reality
The film combines voyeuristic fantasies— sendo through tabloids and Playboy photos—and suggests waking up to personal responsibility is not as glamorous.
Reception & Legacy
Miss March’s reception was a blend of negative critiques from audiences and film critics both. The juvenile humor and stereotypes were a target for all critics but some audiences believed there’s value in cheap laughs during road trips filled with sex escapades.
Despite receiving lackluster critical attention and performing modestly at the box office,, these cult-classic attributes earned Miss March a small cult following that continues to revive raunch comedies.
Conclusion
Miss March is emotionally lopsided, impetuously brash, and unabashedly juvenile. It offers a nostalgic glimpse of a past filled with lowbrow road comedies and bungled melodramas rife with self-conscious awkwardness and Pee Wee-esque embarrassment that drives both its humor as well as its exasperations. Beneath the harsh laughter lies a surprisingly human wish for redemption—Eugene’s earnest peacemaking of friendship steeped in honesty and emotional maturity.
Granted, Miss March is far from any form of critical acclaim, but it might still be sufferable to those looking for blunt entertainment draped in unfiltered crassness alongside misguided yet at times sincere attempts at earnestness. It is a film that seeks no shame in doing the ridiculous—and for an infrequent instance, Miss March renders some semblance of emotional resolution rather rising above than being smothered beneath its raunchy veneer.
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