Sometimes death is the best thing to happen to an artist or other people with potential fame and admiration. For centuries, figures from Vincent Van Gogh to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Michael Jackson have been elevated to greater heights, or have become more appreciated, because they are no longer on this earth. All their faults become virtually forgotten or forgiven, and their strengths, or the reasons they became famous in the first place, come quickly to the public's consciousness. The exceptions to this rule perhaps include serial killers.<br /><br />Pauly Shore, in his directorial debut (if that fact doesn't scare you away from this film already), had this idea in mind when he made the mockumentary "Pauly Shore Is Dead". In it, Shore plays himself, and fakes his own death for the sole purpose of getting free publicity and a new appreciation. Unfortunately, Shore gives very little reason why he would be idolized to the extent of John Belushi or Sam Kinison after he dies. This movie is probably his strongest work so far, but that's really not saying much.<br /><br />Shore starts the movie out by giving a brief synopsis of his life and career, while not being shy to admit that his mother, Mitzi Shore, owned the Comedy Store, where many legendary comedians from Andy Kaufmann to Jim Carrey to Sam Kinison got their big breaks. This family connection contributed to his fame during the 90's, but admittedly wasn't the sole contributor. No doubt, for a few years in the 90's, Shore was a major movie star. Siskel & Ebert thought he was the anti-Christ (check out atthemoviestv.com, type in Shore's name, and see for yourself. It's pretty funny.), but he still made comedies that were modest hits.<br /><br />After 1997, Shore's career crashed and burned. This is where the synopsis ends and the movie begins, shortly after Pauly Shore's sitcom "Pauly" (originally aired on Fox) premieres. Needless to say, the show was a flop. In the movie, Shore blames the sitcom itself for his ultimate demise, and doesn't appear to acknowledge that maybe his "Hey buuuddy!" dumb guy shtick may have gotten old after a while.<br /><br />No matter, though, Shore whines his way through the rest of the movie, making no real attempt to revive his career or even (God forbid!) reinvent himself. It's only through a meeting with the ghost of Sam Kinison (by a really good Kinison impersonator who's so good, you'd think Kinison himself faked his death) that Shore decides to reinvent his career by killing himself, or at least pretending to.<br /><br />He receives the vast media attention he wanted, with his picture on magazine covers and interviews with celebrities (all of whom play themselves in more cameos than you can shake a stick at) saying what a misunderstood genius Shore was. Since Michael Jackson died recently as of the date this review is written, these kinds of post-death accolades are very familiar. Ultimately, though, Shore is caught, and is sent to jail for reasons not explained very well in the film. People who fake their death don't go to jail unless there's insurance fraud involved. There was no mention of insurance in this movie, although that would have been an intriguing plot point.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Shore didn't think the premise all the way through before shooting. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of things he didn't think through before shooting. For instance, in a scene that takes place in 1997, a bus pulls in front of Shore that has a poster on it for the movie "Resident Evil", which came out in 2002! More than that, though, since Shore has been out of the A-list spotlight for a decade now, you never know how much of this movie is fact or fiction. Of course Shore's career fizzled after 1997, but did he really lose his house? Did he really move back in with his mother? It would have been nice for Shore to establish these facts, and be a little bit more honest about how losing a career sucks. He could have made an honest, funny movie rooted in truth, but really blinded that ambition with a premise he couldn't handle, a boatload of celebrity cameos (almost too many unnecessary ones), and really annoying egomania that I'm not sure was supposed to be funny.<br /><br />A recurring line you hear a lot during the movie is when Shore approaches a famous friend (like Charlie Sheen or Vern "Minime" Troyer, who play themselves) and asks them, "Is there a part in the movie for me? (**Insert Long, Noticeable Pause Here**) Dude, is there a part in the movie for me!?!" Did Shore think this was funny? Had he not heard of an agent? Is he really as dumb in real life as he was in "In The Army Now"? This movie, which could have been refreshingly funny, is guilty of too many assumptions. One such part is when Shore, while in jail, is put into the hole and has a clairvoyant conversation with Adam Sandler (who provided his own voice in this movie). Both comedians contemplate about how they made the same kinds of movie, played the same kinds of stupid people, yet Sandler is still a high commodity and Shore isn't. Although some people loved Sandler during his "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" days and hate him now, Sandler's still famous because he grew up. Sure he's made some bad movies, but if he kept playing the same kind of character as Billy Madison, his career would be equally as dead. What Shore assumes (I assume) is that playing the same character over and over again would reap many rewards. Either he assumes that, or his self in the movie assumes that. There's no clear distinction, and that's really what hurts the movie the most.