The film's timeline stretches from 1964 to 1980. The film opens with Douglas Kenney and his classmate Henry Beard celebrating the release of their book, Bored of the Rings, with the Harvard Lampoon staff.

They graduate from Harvard and Kenney convinces Beard not to go to law school but instead publish a monthly magazine: the National Lampoon. Though Kenney is the magazine's main creative voice, there would be no magazine without the guidance of Beard. Kenney becomes the comedy writer and Beard the business manager, while the magazine also has a thriving art department.

They get financing from Matty Simmons. All of the writers work hard to be funny and meet deadlines. Work is a party atmosphere and illicit drug use is prevalent. The magazine is not initially a success until lawsuits are threatened by Disney, Volkswagen, Mormons, and many other established names. The comedy world is changed, and the magazine pushes the acceptance of satire and parody with each edition.

Kenney, due to burnout, suddenly leaves for nine months with a one-line note to Beard. The magazine stays successful under Beard. After five years Simmons agrees to a buyout and they each collect $3.5 million, a request demanded by Beard and Kenney. Beard, being unhappy and greatly stressed, takes his check and immediately exits the magazine.

National Lampoon expands to an hour radio show attracting more great comedians like Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner. But Lorne Michaels buys them all out and signs them over to Saturday Night Live. Special editions of the magazine are published such as one mocking high school yearbooks.

Kenney then moves to movies and writes Animal House in 1978. With the success of the film, cocaine takes over Kenney's life. As disputes with studio executives continue, Kenney writes Caddyshack. Not liking his work, he embarrasses himself being drunk and high at a press conference for the film.

Kenney, Beard, and Chris Hoffman all sell National Lampoon to Simmons' Twenty First Century Communications. Kenney's cocaine addiction takes over. Chevy Chase takes Kenney to Hawai‘i to beat the cocaine but cocaine wins instead. In 1980, at age 33, Kenney's body is found at the bottom of a Hawai‘i cliff (with his glasses and shoes neatly stacked at the top edge). As he has narrated his life's story through the movie, Kenney is displeased to see everyone sad at his funeral. The movie ends with Beard starting a food fight at the wake (just like at the Harvard Lampoon years ago).

Principal photography began in Los Angeles, California on April 14, 2016.^[4][5]

The film's poster — showing Forte/Kenney looking worried as the muzzle of a revolver is pressed to his head, with the tagline, "If you don't watch this movie, we'll kill Will Forte" — is a reference to an infamous 1973 National Lampoon cover featuring a dog, with the caption: "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog".^[6]

A single trailer was released on December 20, 2017.^[7] The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 24,^[1] and was then released on Netflix on January 26, 2018.^[2]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67%, based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "A Futile and Stupid Gesture entertainingly recreates the birth of an influential comedic movement, even if it struggles to cover its creative ground."^[8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[9]

Writing for TheWrap, Todd Gilchrist opined, "Even if the casting choices in portraying some of iconic talents in Kenney's orbit are occasionally questionable – a detail the film gleefully acknowledges – there's something delightful about watching actors known for comedy now try to capture the sound or energy of the performers who inspired them."^[10] Ellin Stein of Slate stated, "There's a sense that the filmmakers have bitten off more than they can chew by trying to cram both the biography and the panoramic overview into one feature."^[11]

• Fox, Jesse David (Jan 26, 2018). "The Story Behind A Futile and Stupid Gesture's Pitch-Perfect Twist Ending". Vulture. Retrieved July 29, 2023.

• A Futile and Stupid Gesture at IMDb