Ass Backwards

Although some of the road-trip clichés are unavoidable, Ass Backwards overcomes the obvious beats with clever, occasionally dark jokes that reveal the sharpness of its stars’ writing.

It's infectious, and the daffy, breezy way they play off each other makes Ass Backwards way more enjoyable than it ought to be.

Co-writers and stars June Diane Raphael (“Whitney,” “New Girl”) and Casey Wilson (“Happy Endings”) are genuine and true comic performers. Even though the story stunk, the set pieces were uninspired and the direction was downright wretched, when these two are “on” and doing schtick, they are absolutely fresh and hilarious.

The film, a comedy without much comedy in it... clumsily tries to merge road trip humor and beauty pageant parody.

The scenarios in Ass Backwards, which director Chris Nelson contributed to by filming in focus, feel arbitrary rather than organic, as if the creators' list of humor targets — lesbian bikers, trailer trash, drug-addicted reality TV stars, pageant world denizens — were picked out of a hat.

Ass Backwards proves that no amount of comic talent can shine — or raise a chuckle — in the absence of even halfway decent material.

Wilson and Raphael have been a comedy team for years, and they riff off each other expertly; too often, however, that’s all they do.