2. General George S. Patten - An Americal Carol (2008)
We've all heard stories about Hollywood's liberal credentials and its battles with the conservative arm of American politics. Whenever a film comes out which satirises or attempts to expose corrupt politicians or big business, you can bet your house that some American conservative will rant and rave about the liberal bias of Hollywood filmmakers. But when the conservatives attempted to do the same, they came massively unstuck with An American Carol, which finds Grammer tarnishing the memory of a great American hero. If you can believe it, An American Carol was directed by David Zucker, one-third of the legendary team behind Airplane! and the Naked Gun films. Taking its structure and plot from A Christmas Carol, the film stars Kevin Farley as Michael Malone, a Michael Moore stand-in who wants to abolish the Fourth of July holiday. To make him change his ways and see the value of patriotism, he is visited by a spirit who takes the form of General George S. Patton (Grammer), who in turn shows him visions of an America overrun by slavery and Islamic fundamentalism. It's tempting to believe that much of the backlash towards An American Carol was simply a reaction against its political views. The reality is that it's just a really badly-made film, with heavy-handed satire, laboured jokes and production values which look every bit at cheap as the likes of Disaster Movie and Vampires Suck. Grammer is awful here, failing to get to grips with the unique mannerisms of the character and delivering the most absurd and didactic lines without a hint of irony or self-awareness. Because he's so clearly a mouthpiece rather than a character, we can never take him seriously enough, and he becomes more and more ridiculous as he tries to get his point across.