13 Cameras

Sometimes, a movie is as moronic as a bag of rocks, but you’re willing to overlook it because the pacing is good, or the way the plot is built is works despite the characters. Think the original Friday The 13th, where the characters are paper thin, motivations are scant, but the tension ramps up properly and the ending is exciting. 13 Cameras pisses all that away with an ending that actively requires you not think about any detail of it, lest it fall apart like ancient parchment. The rock simple characters are forced to become worryingly dumb, the script has plot holes galore, and overall, the ending is a frustrating mess. I could’ve looked the other way if the ending had been enjoyable at all. But it’s just awful, and it makes the rest of the movie even worse for having to sit through it to get to an unsatisfying end. Think of the road trip in Vacation ... only instead of getting into Wally World, they crashed the car in the desert and died of exposure. That is this movie.