Movie Review: GET DUKED! Starring Rian Gordon, Lewis Gribben

One of the top comedies of 2020 is hitting Amazon on August 28. ‘Get Duked!’ or ‘Boyz in the Wood,’ as it was called when it won an audience award at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival is a sure-fire bet to be a future cult-classic.

In what seems like an innocent camping trip for four teenage friends, quickly turns into a comedic ‘The Most Dangerous Game.’

Three teenage dirt bags from the big city, along with an awkward teen with no friends are dropped in the Scottish Highlands and forced to find their way back to civilization. While this seems like a dramatic film, shit gets crazy real fast, as two lunatics begin firing shots at them from a far off distance. While the stakes may seem high with life or death consequences, the characters spend most of the movie high in this satire on survival films.

Ninian Doff’s directorial debut shines when it comes to dark comedic twists that are accompanied by hallucinogens” and outlandish hip-hop music. One minute the characters are high on life and other things, cracking up, while the next seems like the characters are in ‘The Hills Have Eyes,’ yes, it’s a wacky, but very enjoyable trip.

Dean, played by Rian Gordon, Duncan played by Lewis Gribben, and William, played by Viraj Juneja steal the show in the film. Juneja, in particular, seems destined for stardom. While making the trek, the boys are too stoned to realize a fourth passenger has traveled with them. Ian, played by Samuel Bottomley, is a homeschooled teen whose parents volunteered him for the trip, hoping he will make some friends.

Before long, the boys run into “the Duke,” played by Eddie Izzard, who is wearing a kilt and also possesses an awful shot. Duke and his wife, played by Georgie Glen, are both heavily armed, while the boys have a few forks in their possession.

Make no mistake, ‘Get Duked!’ doesn’t try to hide the fact that it’s a ridiculously silly film, while mixing horror-movie cues quite well. I put this film right up there with ‘The Naked Gun’ or even ‘Airplane.’ I really believe this will be revered just like the previously mentioned films.

‘Get Duked!’ gets an A-