The Netflix original film “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” brings the legacy of “National Lampoon” to a new audience. It follows the life of Doug Kenney, the co-founder of National Lampoon Magazine, who is played by former Saturday Night Live actor, Will Forte. Beginning in his college years at Harvard, it follows Kenney’s rocky rise to success with co-founder Henry Beard along with turbulent periods of drug usage and eventual suicide.

The film is far more than a straight biopic — it captures the spirit of the National Lampoon empire. What once began as a college magazine grew into films, radio shows, live theatre performances, recorded albums and books, and “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” retains the comedic spark that pervades the original media. It’s witty, cynical and not for those with refined sensibilities.

Martin Mull portrays Kenney in his old age, though Kenney died at the age of 33. He appears in a second storyline used to narrate and add commentary to the events of Kenney’s life. Often breaking the fourth wall, using surrealist hallucination sequences and showing events through the success of the “National Lampoon” empire, the audience is transported not only into the process of the creation of the Lampoon, but into themind of the troubled Kenney himself.

The film takes some creative liberties with the portrayal of its characters and events but pokes fun at itself for doing so. The run of “National Lampoon” is star studded with actors that would later become the figureheads of ‘70s and ‘80s comedy. Many went on to be the staples of Saturday Night Live. These figures, such as Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase are played by a mixture of well knowns and lesser knowns.

Despite the actors not looking particularly like their famous counterparts, each does a spot-on impression of the comedian they’re portraying. In a hallucination sequence, John Daly whips out an impressive Murray voice to serenade the distressed protagonist. John Gemberling captures Belushi’s rambunctious and spontaneous demeanor, and Joel McHale delivers Chase’s sardonic deadpan admirably, perhaps drawing from years of working with him on the NBC show “Community.”

The film is incredibly self-aware, which allows it to maintain a lighthearted tone, even in the darker moments. It never feels like a heavy-handed documentary meant to extol Kenney’s courage and brilliance, nor does it ever feel like a heartless screwball comedy. Fittingly, it combines the two into a fun, thoughtful piece about a man who never got to see how influential his work would become.

Once a staple of American counterculture, the influence of “National Lampoon” can certainly be felt in contemporaries such as College Humor and The Onion. While “Caddyshack” and “Animal House” are now household names, they all began with a couple Harvard guys, a college magazine and a dream. “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” is a fun experience brought together with humility, honesty and a few handfuls of filthy jokes.