The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

"Wild Hogs" is another mindless Hollywood film that uses a predictable formula in an attempt to create a cash cow - and as a cash cow it's proving to be a success. However, the plot is paper thin and only exists as a means of hooking a series of gags and skits together.

"Wild Hogs" doesn't begin to compare to "American Beauty" or "Sideways" in conveying the middle-aged crisis theme. The only way to enjoy this movie is to relax and view the pure nonsense for what it is.

The crews that design movie trailers must fantasize about being able to work their magic on films like "Wild Hogs." It would be impossible for the trailer to ruin the plot, since there really isn't one. Not a single scene develops the characters, provides meaningful dialog or offers a serious connect to the characters' emotions.

The story centers around four lifelong friends, each of whom is experiencing some form of mid-life crisis. Doug (Tim Allen) is a dentist whose son considers him embarrassing and irrelevant. Bobby (Martin Lawrence) is a milk toast husband who only works because of his domineering wife. Woody (John Travolta) has hidden his ugly divorce and near bankruptcy from his friends. And Dudley (William H. Macy) is a 50-year-old virgin who has devoted his whole life to computers and technology and hasn't a clue about women.

The friends have discovered that middle aged elixir of the gods, the Harley-Davidson. The quartet go for a token ride every week to a biker bar where there is a cameo appearance by Paul Teutul of "American Chopper" fame. Woody is desperate to escape his misery and concocts a scheme for the group to just take off and hit the open road together.

After a thoroughly predictable, "should we - shouldn't we" period, the friends head off into a series of misadventures filled with tired slapstick and passé homophobic humor. Ultimately and predictably, they wind up running afoul of a nasty biker gang called the Del Fuegos. The dangerous "Leader of the Pack" is Jack (Ray Liotta), whose normally talented acting is lowered in this presentation to a series of caricatures.

William H. Macy is the kind of actor who can add personality to any film. He exudes a sort of "salt of the earth" charm and likability that he brings to every role he has collected. Macy's performance is the driving force of "Wild Hogs" and the film founders whenever he isn't on the screen.

There is a plethora of light attempts to add some subtle humor - for example when the destroyed Biker Bar is charitably rebuilt, the newscaster comments that the restrooms have been fitted compete with bidets. Unfortunately, the original subtleties are generally lost amidst the clichés and slapstick.

Peter Fonda's cameo fails, because the director makes the error of thinking that using the star of "Easy Rider" to play a legendary biker is humorous in its own right.

Definitely not Oscar material, yet it seems to spark nearly non-stop riotous laughter from the audience. It is a film best enjoyed when not taken seriously, and it ended up being what Woody proposed from the start - a trip with no rules, no barriers and no remorse. Oddly, the film has a soundtrack that really works and contributes cleverly to making everything come together.