These days, multi-hyphenate writer/director/executive producer/co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn is a pretty massive mover and shaker in the entertainment world, but in 2004, he was still just getting his career off the ground. Sure, he had been working with Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Studios for years at that point, having written “Tromeo and Juliet” in 1996 for his very first official gig, and he had written a successful screenplay for “Scooby-Doo” in 2002, but he was far from the professional and pop culture titan he is today. In true Troma spirit, however, Gunn was still hard at work on low-budget projects, and he starred as a version of himself alongside his then-wife Jenna Fischer in her directorial debut, a mockumentary called “LolliLove.”
“LolliLove” is as indie as it gets, filmed for about $1,500 and shot in and around Gunn and Fischer’s home, with actual footage from their wedding used as B-roll. The mockumentary features Gunn and Fischer as fictionalized versions of themselves who are self-obsessed but want to appear to do good deeds, and the fictional Jenna decides to start a charity where she gives lollipops with helpful messages to unhoused people. Troma eventually ended up distributing the film, and like most Troma movies, “LolliLove” has some jokes that are way beyond the bounds of good taste, but there are still some things to appreciate in this odd footnote in Gunn’s career.
LolliLove is both offensive and hilariously prescient
“LolliLove” is kind of bizarre to watch in 2025 because the world has changed so much, and yet the kind of self-righteous yuppies that Fischer and Gunn are spoofing are still almost exactly the same. Watching Jenna and James give out their lollipops on camera is exactly like watching the untold numbers of TikTokkers and YouTubers who do very similar things in the name of self-promotion. The movie’s roasting of people who use charity to further their own goals while feeling morally superior is incredibly on-point and feels prescient, pointing out a societal issue that would only get exponentially worse with the rise of social media.
Here’s the thing: there are some jokes in “LolliLove” that absolutely do not pass the poor taste test in 2025. James and Jenna are supposed to be intentionally awful people, but some of the things they say and the way they’re said could easily be taken out of context, and the “mockumentary” element is missed. This is Gunn and co. at their most intentionally shocking, from a time when he made some jokes that really upset people (and eventually got him fired from Disney for a bit), so “LolliLove” isn’t for super sensitive viewers. If you can handle a little Troma-esque comedy circa 2004, however, it has some real laughs and some great cameos from big stars in their early days.
LolliLove is a strange slice of 2004 with some fun cameos
The screenplay for “LolliLove” was written by Fischer and Peter Alton, who also narrated the film, but the movie was also largely ad-libbed. Due to the super low budget and ad-libbing, there are moments where “LolliLove” almost feels like a student film, making it all the wilder when big stars appear. Fischer would go on to star as Pam in “The Office” only a year later, and Gunn is now one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but “LolliLove” also features Jason Segel and Linda Cardellini playing versions of themselves as friends of James and Jenna’s who discuss their charity plans. Troma president Lloyd Kaufman appears as “Father Lloyd,” and Judy Greer even appears as a fictionalized “Judy.” It’s well-known that Troma helped kickstart Gunn’s career, but it’s fascinating that it also helped give Fischer her directorial debut, and that some of the couple’s friends helped them out.
While there are things in “LolliLove” that haven’t aged well, there are things it’s satirizing that feel even more relevant today, so it shouldn’t be completely ignored. If you’re looking for an interesting peek into the past that shows some of James Gunn’s comedic Troma-based roots, it’s worth checking out this strange little mockumentary on Prime.
