Lucas and Ted’s Excellent Trip to See Dude, Where’s My Car?

BEAVERCREEK, Oh. (AP)

On the evening of December 28, 2000, two Chicago residents got a little more than they bargained for when they caught the new film Dude, Where’s My Car? at the local cineplex: they got laughs.

The local mega-cineplex: the newly built Regal Hollywood 20.
Hackett poses in front of the movie poster in eager anticipation. [Photo by Ted Whalen]
Hackett plunks down eight bucks and change for the honor of seeing this cinematic masterpiece. [Photo by Ted Whalen]
The movie begins!

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Ted Whalen, 26, who works as a freelance internet millionaire in the Windy City. “It was actually funny at times.”

Lucas Hackett, a 29-year-old professional dancer and motorcycle enthusiast, agreed. “Some of the bits were hilarious. At one point I laughed my head off.”

Added Hackett, “Not literally.”

Dude, starring “Kelso” from That 70’s Show and “Stifler” from American Pie, has received wide critical praise for its broad but cutting social satire. Also appearing, in a career defining role, is Hal Sparks, recently of E!’s Talk Soup. Fans of Showtime’s new series Queer as Folk know that Sparks can act, but there has already been Oscar talk for his poignant supporting role as one of the many eccentric characters standing between Kelso and his car. Other stars include the annoying young girl from ABC’s The Practice, Kristy “Buffy Before Sarah Michelle Gellar” Swanson, and a bevy of assorted sexy ladies and their breasts.

Despite their enjoyment of the movie, Whalen and Hackett voiced some reservations about the plot.

“It was convoluted,” Whalen said. “It was unrelenting in its complexity. They really made you work hard to fit all the pieces together.”

“It certainly deserves to be viewed more than once,” stated Hackett. “The filmmakers put so much into this movie that it’s really impossible to get it all the first time out.”

This is the first movie for both.

ASSOCIATED PRESS