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Dude, Where's My Car?

Dude, Where's My Car? is a 2000 American stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner. The film stars Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two best friends who find themselves unable to remember where they parked their vehicle after a night of recklessness, ultimately uncovering a conspiracy that threatens the universe. Supporting cast members include Kristy Swanson, Jennifer Garner, Marla Sokoloff, and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Plot
Best friends and roommates Jesse Montgomery III and Chester Greenburg awaken with hangovers and no memory of the previous night. The answering machine contains an angry message from their twin girlfriends, Wilma and Wanda, as to their whereabouts. The two also learn that they have almost been fired from their pizza delivery jobs, and they discover that the cabinets in their kitchen are full of containers of pudding. They emerge from their home to find Jesse's car missing (leading to the titular question) and, with it, their girlfriends' first anniversary presents. Because the girls have promised them a "special treat", which Jesse and Chester take to mean sexual intercourse, the boys desperately begin retracing their steps in an attempt to discover where they left the car. Along the way, they encounter a transgender stripper, a belligerent speaker box operator at a Chinese restaurant's drive-through, two tattoos they discover on each other's backs, UFO cultists led by Zoltan (who later hold the twins hostage), a Cantonese-speaking Chinese tailor, the Zen-minded Nelson and his cannabis-loving dog Jackal, beautiful Christie Boner, her aggressive jock boyfriend Tommy and his friends, two hard-nosed police detectives, and a reclusive French ostrich farmer named Pierre. They also encounter two groups of aliens: one group consists of five attractive women, and the other comprises two Norwegian men, all of whom are searching for the "Continuum Transfunctioner" —an extraterrestrial device that Jesse and Chester accidentally acquired the night before. The search for both the car and the Transfunctioner leads Jesse and Chester to the local arcade and mini-golf course, Captain Stu's Space-O-Rama. Once inside, they encounter Zoltan and his cultists, who give them Wilma and Wanda in exchange for a toy that Jesse and Chester try to pass off as the Transfunctioner. Tommy, Christie, and the jocks arrive along with Nelson and his dog, whom they release after Tommy snatches the fake Transfunctioner from Zoltan. The two sets of aliens arrive and reveal that the toy is not the Transfunctioner; moments later, Chester finishes solving a Rubik's Cube, which shapeshifts into the real Continuum Transfunctioner. The boys are warned that once the five lights on the device stop flashing, the universe will be destroyed. Jesse and Chester must determine which group of aliens is there to protect the universe and which is there to destroy it. Both claim to be the protectors of the universe, stating that they were with Jesse and Chester the previous night, which Jesse and Chester still cannot remember. The two correctly choose the Norwegian men after they successfully answer their question about the previous night by stating they got a hole-in-one at the 18th hole at the arcade's miniature golf park and won a lifetime supply of pudding. At the last second, they deactivate the Transfunctioner, saving the universe. Enraged, the five alien women merge into a beautiful 50-foot giantess clad in a purple bra and matching miniskirt. She swallows Tommy whole in front of Christie (who reacts with indifference), and gives chase to Jesse and Chester. The cultists tell them to activate the Photon Accelerator Annihilation Beam on the Transfunctioner. However, the button that activates it is too far in to reach. Chester suddenly remembers a nature show from earlier in the day, with chimpanzees using sticks to gather food through small holes, and applies the same logic with a straw to push the recessed button, destroying the alien. Tommy survives, but Christie breaks up with him in favor of Nelson. The protectors thank Jesse, Chester, and the twins for saving the world, and erase their memories of the adventure. The protectors park the duo's car, a Renault Le Car, behind a mail truck for them to find the following morning. Jesse and Chester salvage their relationships with the twins and discover that the special treat from the girls turns out to be matching berets with their names, Jesse's and Chester's, embroidered in the front. The protectors leave a gift for their girlfriends, and for them by extension: breast enhancement necklaces. Jesse, Chester, and the twins go out for Chinese food in Jesse's car while arguing about what their tattoos say. ==Cast==
Production
Screenwriter Philip Stark wrote the screenplay in 1998 while living in a small Hollywood apartment. At the time, teen comedies were experiencing a massive resurgence following the success of American Pie (1999), which starred Seann William Scott. Stark has mentioned that early drafts were influenced by post-Kantian philosophy. He viewed the "search for the car" as a metaphor for the search for meaning in a chaotic universe, though this was eventually buried under layers of sci-fi absurdity and "And then?" jokes. The script was offered to Jason Reitman twice, but he turned it down both times. Television director Danny Leiner initially thought the title was "crazy" but signed on because he found the "bizarre adventure" of the script uniquely funny and non-derivative of other teen comedies of the era. This scene at the Chinese food drive-thru was actually based on a real-life frustration Stark had with repetitive service, which he exaggerated into a surrealist loop. ==Release==
Release
The production team originally faced a potential R-rating due to the drug-culture undertones. However, the studio pushed for a PG-13 rating to capture the high school demographic. To achieve this, the film famously never actually shows anyone smoking marijuana; the characters are just perpetually "confused" or "in a haze," allowing the film to pass censors while the audience "got the joke." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. The BBC Films review gave it 1 star, calling the film "a lame-brained travesty" and "intensely irritating", and Kutcher and Scott's routines "painfully unamusing". USA Today said: "Any civilization that can produce a movie this stupid probably deserves to be hit by famine and pestilence." The Chicago Tribune said: "At the end of 83 unmerciful minutes, audiences will be exclaiming, 'Dude, I can't believe I sat through that movie!?'" and the New York Post said that it was: "An almost chuckle-free mess, so amateurish and lame that the cast often has that embarrassed look you see on dogs given ridiculous haircuts." Box office The film opened at number 2 at the North American box office, grossing US$13.8 million in its opening weekend behind the Paramount Pictures release What Women Want, which opened at the top spot with US$33 million. Home media and rights The DVD was released on June 26, 2001, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. This release included 7 deleted and extended scenes, an audio commentary with Kutcher, Scott, and Leiner, a behind-the-scenes featurette, the music video for Grand Theft Audio's "Stoopid Ass", TV spots, and the theatrical trailer. The VHS version was released on November 6, 2001. In Australia (Region 4), it was released on VHS on September 26, 2001, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment South Pacific, with the DVD following in early 2002. In the United Kingdom (Region 2) it was released on home video on December 10, 2001. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment later released it on Blu-ray in 2008; the only special feature is the inclusion of the original theatrical trailer. In 2019, Rupert Murdoch sold most of 21st Century Fox's film and television assets to Disney, and ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' was one of the films included in the deal. In the United States, Disney made it available on Hulu, which was one of the additional assets they acquired from Fox in the 2019 sale. It was also made available to stream on Disney+ in some international markets without Hulu. ==Music==
Music
The soundtrack for the film was released December 15, 2000, by London-Sire Records. Soundtrack Source: • "Stoopid Ass" – Grand Theft Audio • "Playmate of the Year" – Zebrahead • "Lighting the Way" – Superdrag • "I'm Afraid of Britney Spears" – Liveonrelease • "Authenticity" – Harvey Danger • "Voodoo Lady" – Ween • "Listen to the Music" – Dangerman • "So Cal Loco (Party Like a Rockstar)" – Sprung Monkey • "We Luv U" – Grand Theft Audio • "Lunatic" – Silt • "Sorry About Your Luck" – Spy • "Bust a Move" – Young MC Other songs Songs featured in the film but not included in the soundtrack • "It Could Be You" – Blur • "Come On, Come On" – Smash Mouth • "You Sexy Thing" – Hot Chocolate • "Claire Danes Poster" – Size 14 • "Let it Ride" – Spy • "Right Now" – SR-71 • "American Psycho" – Treble Charger • "Here We Go" (Radio Edit) - Freestylers • "The Bubble Bunch" – Jimmy Spicer • "Zoltan's Theme" – turtle? • "Little Things" – Good Charlotte • "What I Believe" – Sum 41 • "Bakhuphuka Izwe Lonke" – Ladysmith Black Mambazo • "Sitar Dude" – Terry Wilson • "Pachelbel's Canon" – written by Johann Pachelbel, arranged by Lee Ashley • "La Marseillaise" – written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle ==Possible sequel==
Possible sequel
A sequel titled ''Seriously Dude, Where's My Car? was planned at Fox circa 2003, but became stuck in development hell for several years and never materialized. In 2016, Kutcher confirmed the existence of a script for Seriously Dude, Where's My Car?'' and further elaborated he would potentially consider appearing in a sequel. In August 2017, Scott discussed his interest in making a sequel and that he would desire it to be rated R and "dark and really weird". This interview with Scott took place a few days before it was announced that Rupert Murdoch wanted to sell 21st Century Fox to Disney. ==Legacy==
Legacy
In 2012, the Pittsburgh Pirates started using the "Zoltan" hand signal from the film as a way for players to congratulate their teammates after an accomplishment such as a home run or a double play. The habit started after the Pirates (in particular Neil Walker) were watching ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' in the visiting clubhouse at Turner Field in Atlanta during an April 2012 weekend series against the Atlanta Braves. After a Twitter campaign to encourage the "real" Zoltan to appear at a game, Hal Sparks flew to Pittsburgh on July 25, 2012, to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and was on hand to see the Pirates win 3–2 over his hometown team, the Chicago Cubs. Also there to support the team was Hal's girlfriend, Summer Soltis, whose family is from the area and are Pirates fans themselves. Despite picking up a cult following in Pittsburgh and helping the team contend in the playoff race well into September, the Pirates finished with a 79–83 record, extending their major North American professional sports record to 20 consecutive losing seasons before ultimately breaking their drought in 2013. Stark has admitted to "cringing" at some of the jokes. In recent interviews for The Hollywood Reporter and Cracked.com, he noted that much of the humor, specifically jokes involving ethnic minorities, transgender people, and gay men, felt "appropriate" for the edgy comedy landscape of 2000 but feels dated and offensive today. He has stated that the film "would never be made today," not just because of its humor, but because the "mid-budget studio comedy" has largely vanished from the theatrical market. ==References==
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