It may be hard to believe, but in the
1980s Jay Leno was one of the top comedians in the world, carving his
path to fame with his insightful and pretty damn edgy material. His
increasing popularity led to him becoming the guest host for NBC's
The Tonight Show in 1987, filling in for the legendary Johnny
Carson in a highly coveted role. This led to him vastly toning down his
act to fit in with Carson's audience, and this led to his star rising
even higher as he now crossed over to numerous audiences. He scored a
huge Dortios endorsement deal in the late 80s, which was one of the
biggest advertising campaigns at the time so he was EVERYWHERE.
Naturally, the suits that run Hollywood
wanted to capitalize on him as much as possible so they went digging
and found an unfinished movie Leno had filmed in 1986 that ran out of
money on the very last day of shooting. Figuring that'd easily make a
quick buck, they turfed it out to some poor interns for editing and
post production and unleashed it upon the world in 1989. Jay
himself has gone on record numerous times about his dislike for the
movie, going as far to call it “horrible”.
Does Jay Leno deliver a convincing
performance as an action star? Is this a lost gem of the buddy cop
genre? Or is this a stereotype filled horror show that paved the way
for the Rush Hour franchise? Let's find out with A Ghoul
Versus Jay Leno's Collision Course!