Sometimes you just want to indulge in a feel-great funny movie that is generously crude and provocative with intentional doses of uninhibited curse words and drinking and drugs and political incorrectness and even a little nudity. Sometimes you just don’t want to have to sit up straight and watch polite characters doing perfect things. Starring some of the greatest actors of our time, whom we all love, Buddy Games: Spring Awakening is ready for entertainment consumption to fulfill such a craving.
Josh Duhamel (Transformers franchise), Kevin Dillon (Entourage), and Dan Bakkedahl (Veep), among others, have reunited for the uproariously outrageous sequel to their hit comedy Buddy Games.
Faced with their greatest challenge yet, the group of friends embarks on yet another quest, this time to honor a recently departed friend. After a sidesplitting funeral scene with awkward and hilarious moments, the group is right back — you guessed it — where it all began, at Spring Break. Let the partying, and of course, endless silly shenanigans, begin.
Bakkedahl, Dillon, and Duhamel sat down with MovieWeb for a lot of laughter and also an exclusive interview to discuss what makes this comedy — and great group of guys — one to watch.
Triple Threat Versus a One, Two Punch – Duhamel Reflects on His Roles in the Sequel
Rare is the actor who willingly embarks upon the challenges of the triple threat task of writing, acting in, and directing a feature film. Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, Edward Burns, George Clooney, Woody Allen, and Ben Affleck are among the list who have done so. And then, too, there is Josh Duhamel.
Duhamel wrote, starred in, and directed the original Buddy Games and checked off that feat on his list of career successes. In the original plot, after a huge argument, six lifelong buddies reunited to compete in “the buddy games,” which was a competition filled with fun and silly physical and mental contests which were taken very seriously by all, as they literally fought their way to the $150,000 prize with lots of drinking and partying along the way.
This time around, for the sequel, Duhamel decided to only star in and direct. “Well, I didn’t really have time to write this one. I was working, and we needed to get it done. I wrote the first one and that took a long time,” said Duhamel, hilariously mimicking the finger gestures of pecking away slowly on a keyboard.
The screenplay for the sequel, he explained, was entrusted to someone else: “I hired Gabe McKinley, who wrote it. And then I had Rachael Thoele, who is also a very talented writer, help sort of polish it up and brought a lot of the crazy games towards the end to life. They co-opted and built the script, and they did an amazing job, both of them.”
Pressures (Or Not) For the Sequel
There is, obviously, a lot of pressure that goes into making a sequel to a beloved film. The plot must somehow simultaneously derive from and also grow from and, well, also not repeat events from the original film. It also cannot disappoint fans of the original while, hopefully, attracting additional followers.
Dillon had an interesting, and very healthy mindset going into the filming of the sequel, however. “I didn’t really feel any pressure. I was just glad because I had more storyline this time,” said the actor jokingly.
On a more serious note, he added, “Really, I loved my character the first time, and I love the movie, but I love that I had a lot more to do this time. I love the character, and I love the guys. So, I really didn’t feel any pressure. I just felt happy to be doing it again.”
Duhamel also shared how he encouraged Dillon after the first film, going into the second. “I said Kevin, I promise I’m going to give you more to do, just please do the second one.”
Thankfully, Dillon did just that and came back on board to round out the cast.
When a Cool Camaraderie Minus All Egos Yields a Great Ensemble
One of the most refreshingly noticeable aspects of the film, in both the original and the sequel, is a balance in screen time. It’s like looking up at a dark sky and seeing endless stars shining. Everyone plays their position to light up the film and there is no supernova vying to outshine the others. It’s cool to watch such an ego-less group.
Bakkedahl responded to this observation with clear pleasure in his voice for having been a part of such a seamless bond. “I think it really speaks to Josh’s talents, not just as a director, but as a star himself. He never approached it like, ‘All right, this is my movie, and you guys are gonna, you know, eat my dust.’ Instead, his presence has always been that he is just one of the six. And the same goes for Kevin and all of us.”
Bakkedahl went on to highlight more endearing thoughts on having worked with Dillon. “I look at a guy like Kevin who I have followed and adored for decades before I ever met him, and then I get a chance to work with him, and he works like a teammate rather than like a captain or something. And that just makes it really easy to go, ‘All right, cool. I’m safe. I don’t have to fight for table scraps here. We’re all gonna get some. We’re all gonna get to play.”
Dillon added and stressed that the same is true for everyone in the cast, “Nobody made it about themselves. It was all about us and about making a funny movie.”
Duhamel agreed, adding a personal note regarding the inspiration for the film, “And that’s kind of the spirit of this too. We wanted, I wanted, guys who I knew weren’t going to try to out-funny each other. I wanted it to be like my real group of friends, who this movie is based on. And these guys are very much like those guys,” noted Duhamel.
Reflecting on how the dynamics could have definitely created a nightmare combination, Duhamel continued. “It just helps when you have guys who don’t have an ego about it. It could have been not easy to make a movie with a bunch of other comedians, but these guys did it. It was a dream for me because I know it could have been much more difficult.”
Buddy Games Cast Says Spring Awakening May Just Get You High
“It’s frigging hilarious,” said Bakkedahl. “I walked out of the screening, and it felt like something had happened to me. I walked out of there and I felt a little high.”
Added Duhamel, “You feel good after watching this. You feel like you’ve licked a hallucinogenic frog.”
Dillon agreed on the elevating qualities of having watched the film: “I felt high. I felt like I’d just eaten mushrooms.”
On a more serious note, Dillon concluded, “Ultimately, it’s just about friendship in the end. It’s about these guys who love their buddy. They want to make sure that he gets buried the right way and gets taken care of. And they’re always looking out for each other in so many ways. It’s an old-school, feel-good movie, and I think we need that.”
From Paramount Global Content Distribution Group, Buddy Games: Spring Awakening is in select theaters now and will be available to rent or buy digitally on Amazon Video and iTunes starting June 2, 2023 and also available on DVD July 25.
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