WITHOUT A PADDLE

WITHOUT A PADDLE is a comedy that on the one hand is not nearly as funny as it ought to be and on the other has some genuine laughs that are still funny when recalled the next day.

The plot is fairly simple. Thirtyish lifelong friends Dan (Seth Green), Jerry (Matthew Lillard) and Tom (Dax Shepard), who parted company after college, come together at their friend Billy's funeral in Oregon and spontaneously decide to fulfill Billy's dream of seeking out the lost treasure of famed (real-life) robber D.B. Cooper's missing cash in the wilds of Oregon (albeit by-the-book Dan reluctantly lets the other two drag him along). None of the trio has the least idea of how to get by in the outdoors, even before they royally antagonize a pair of pot farmers (Abraham Benrubi, Ethan Suplee) whose demeanor is just this side of DELIVERANCE.

The screenplay by Jay Leggett and Mitch Rouse (from a story by Fred Wolf, Harris Goldberg and Tom Nursall) can't seem to make up its mind if it wants to go for goofball slapstick or a more realistic bonding comedy, and neither the writers nor director Steven Brill have the skill to tread a middle line, a la the AMERICAN PIE films. The results are uneven to say the least, though there are a few moments of genuine hilarity. Having the baddies gloatingly taunt the heroes with altered lyrics from a Culture Club tune turns out to be surprisingly memorable for that matter, most of the snatches of spontaneous song are pretty entertaining and there's an extended gag related to homosexual panic that goes so far that it bypasses offensiveness and becomes genuinely, slyly funny. But moments of broad farce abruptly turn into attempts at naturalism, and the shifts in tone are jarring.

Green who has proved that he can play geniuses, eccentrics and morons with equal flair exudes a hint of innate cool that is at odds with Dan's nerdiness, though he's still fun to watch. Lillard is fine in the relative straight man role and Shepard does well as the somewhat boneheaded daredevil of the group. Benrubi and Suplee play the dense antagonists with glee, and Burt Reynolds shows up in a supporting role that's a different look for him.

WITHOUT A PADDLE has its inspired moments, but there is enough flat space between them to make this a not entirely successful comedic excursion.