Wild Hogs is a generic comedy in every sense of the term. It's a one trick pony. A sitcom premise tossed haphazardly up there on the big screen. Strangely though, I didn't flat out hate the film. It isn't comic genius or even original for that matter, but when stacked up against the recent comedies Hollywood has to offer (i.e. Norbit and Epic Movie) it is, at the very least, tolerable.

Wild Hogs features John Travolta, William H. Macy, Martin Lawrence, and Tim Allen as four middle aged suburbanite buddies who hit the open road on their motorcycles, in search of adventure. They find it when they make the fatal mistake of making a pit stop at a biker bar in the middle of nowhere. The proprietor of this particular bar (played by Ray Liotta) happens to head a gang known as The Del Fuegos (allegedly, the shooting script featured the Hell's Angels, but that famed pack of bikers threatened a lawsuit against Disney, so it was changed), in any case these Del Fuegos don't cotton to poseurs. Naturally, misadventure ensues, and the "Wild Hogs" find themselves hiding out in Madrid (pronounced Mad-rid), an unassuming town where folks live the simple life.

There isn't anything fresh about Wild Hogs. We've seen this stuff countless times before. It's essentially City Slickers on the open road only with about half the heart and a quarter of the laughs. The film is festooned with simple gags that are, for the most part, easy to digest - although there is a bit of homosexual humor that feels sorely out of place. The Del Fuego scenario is dull and mostly there to lend the film a sense of conflict that it doesn't really need. What Wild Hogs 'does' have to offer, is four leads who truly appear to be having a good time in each other's company.

Travolta, Allen, Lawrence, and Macy clearly like one another, even when their characters are getting under each other's skin. Individually, there's isn't anything particularly original about these one-note characterizations, but together, they manage to keep the movie afloat.

Of the four performers, Macy shines brightest as a dimwitted (and nebbish) computer programmer whose chronic fear of talking to women is suddenly put to rest when he comes face to face with the charmer that is Marisa Tomei. An improbable union to be sure, but Macy is so damned endearing, and Tomei so cute, that I simply let go and accepted it.

Ray Liotta plays a bully of a biker who picks on folks just because he can. To be honest, it was weird seeing him in this movie. He just doesn't seem like the biker type. Wild Hogs also features a couple of moderately enjoyable cameos including Tenacious D's Kyle Gass and Scrubs' John C. McGinley. The best bit part comes in the form of a veteran actor who I'd rather not reveal in this review. When he pops up in the final minutes of the movie, I laughed and cheered loudly. For me, his appearance was the one unexpected moment in the film.

Wild Hogs is a forgettable flick to be sure, but for whatever reason, I don't have any sort of contempt for it. As far as cinematic fast food, you could do far worse.

On a final note, stick around for the end credits. There's a humourous bit for fans of Extreme Makeover.