Have you ever been the sober guy while a few friends got completely hammered? They're having a much better time than you, though it's fun for a while, and eventually it's hard to tell whether or not you can call this a good time. You like them and all, but still.

That's what Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny is like. As their consistent low-key success attests, Jack Black and Kyle Gass (as themselves - sort of) are goofily likeable even as they're outrageously self-deluded and arrogant. Teaming with writer/director/musical savant Liam Lynch for the full-length treatment, they coast on their charm a little longer than they should, in the umpteenth variation of their favorite subject matter, which is themselves.

Occasionally they throw in some clever cameos. Tim Robbins, executive producer Ben Stiller and Dave Grohl make the most of their time. Determined to prove himself a wacky comedian, John C. Reilly follows up Talladega Nights with an appearance as a mythical creature, playing him like the dog Goliath, semi-brain damaged but moral. The "who's that?" factor lends the film some energy.

Yet Lynch, whose resume consists mostly of low-budget but cultish television work, can't seem to transcend that low-budget but cultish television look. Much of the movie takes place in Gass' cheap apartment, and it might as well really be. When the D hits the road, Lynch never really opens things up, shooting mostly in tight shots.

You'd think that the Rock and Roll History Museum, fake as it may be, would somehow shoot some cheesy glam into things, but instead it just sits there. (Maybe that's the point - without outrageous personalities, musical equipment and costuming are just stock items.)

Though the set design does include a neon "Guitarway To Heaven," the museum looks like something out of a sixties Disney heist film. That's just how Lynch shoots it, too, and thanks, guys, for crossing my memories of Hayley Mills with Black and Gass. If only we had Dean Jones as a museum guard.

The movie starts out with the promise of being something unique and fitting the immense comedic and musical talent these guys do actually have. Telling Black's "origin" in rock opera form, Lynch taps a young Black look-alike (Troy Gentile, who did the same thing in Nacho Libre) and Meatloaf as Black's father.

It's fitting, as at Tenacious D's delirious best they either ape or mock Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell composer Jim Steinman, doing Wagnerian power rock that's hard to take seriously but also hard to ignore.

Unfortunately, once Black finds Santa Monica, the movie just bounces from beach to apartment to back again. Though they do end up in a cheap bar amateur night, even when Black fantasizes about dominating, it still just looks like a cheap bar.

It's frustrating, because in addition to talent, there's a lot of intelligence at work. Without any explanation, the script pays a quick homage to A Clockwork Orange then moves on to sprinkle other pop culture references that aren't exactly in common parlance. As has been noted before, too, it takes smarts to play this dumb well.

So was it funny? Yes. But unlike the comedy bumblebee that is Jack Black, the thing just never seems to take off and fly. It just lumbers around, waiting to see if you'll get too tired to take anymore before it does.

Rating:

Derek McCaw