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Ed Norton Stars in Last Week Tonight’s Hilarious “Infrastructure” Trailer

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Jon Oliver's Last Week Tonight gives American infrastructure the blockbuster film it deserves

Jon Oliver’s Last Week Tonight gives American infrastructure the blockbuster treatment it deserves

Our crumbling American infrastructure—which includes thousands of dilapidated, unsafe bridges and highways—was well-documented last year in a 60 Minutes investigative piece. It was an informative and eye-opening journalistic work… but it wasn’t very funny. Thankfully, Jon Oliver and some big-name stars have rectified that problem on the most recent episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight.

Oliver actually uses clips from that 60 Minutes piece for his Last Week Tonight segment on infrastructure, but adds his own (well, really, Jon Stewart’s) brand of exasperated satire to the topic. He also injects some much-needed “sexiness” to the topic, in the form of a fake movie trailer for a blockbuster film entitled “Infrastructure” (which can be seen at the 17-minute mark).


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As Oliver notes, the fundamental problem with fixing our roads and bridges is that maintenance isn’t very exciting. While opening a new bridge gives politicians the chance for a ribbon-cutting photo op involving comically oversized scissors, raising taxes to fix up an old bridge doesn’t really make for great PR. And until something terrible (albeit exciting) like a bridge collapse occurs, the American public isn’t very interested in the problem, either.

So to make infrastructure a more “thrilling” subject, Last Week Tonight produced a hilarious trailer for an action movie about public employees diligently maintaining dams and highways.

Big name actors like Ed Norton and Steve Buscemi are part of the star-studded cast, and they provide award-worthy line readings of dialogue like, “It’s time… for your biannual bridge inspection! I’ve got, uh, Thursday afternoon and Friday anytime before three.”

Two three-time Academy Award nominee Ed Norton stars in "Infrastructure"

Two three-time Academy Award nominee Ed Norton stars in “Infrastructure”


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The movie trailer parody is pretty on-target, from the overly-dramatic zoom-ins to the groan-inducing puns. If only the legendary Don LaFontaine were still alive to provide the gravitas this trailer’s narration deserves.