The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch

The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (also known as Rutles: Evolution) is a re-telling of the 1978 mockumentary All You Need Is Cash, in a modern setting. It was premiered at the Don't Knock the Rock film festival on August 16, 2003.

Plot
Twenty-four years after the original, documentarist Melvin Hall (Eric Idle) interviews musicians, actors, and other entertainment figures about the days of the popular band The Rutles.

Cast
• Eric Idle as Melvin Hall / Dirk McQuickly / Lady Beth Mouse-Peddler

• Neil Innes as Ron Nasty

• Ricky Fataar as Stig O'Hara

• John Halsey as Barry Wom

• Terence Baylor as Leggy Mountbatten

• Mariela Comitini as Jennifer Lopez

• Peter Crabbe as Police Officer

• Jimmy Fallon as Melvin's Son

• Samantha Harris as The Jogger

• Lily Idle as Rutles Fan

• Bianca Jagger as Martini (archive footage)

• Bill Murray as Bill Murray the K

• Kevin Nealon as Kevin Wongle

• Catherine O'Hara as Astro Glide

• Jim Piddock as Troy Nixon

• Gwen Taylor as Chastity (archive footage)

• Carinthia West as Carinthia (archive footage)

• Robin Williams as Hans Hänkie

• Henry Woolf as Arthur Sultan

• April Adams as Groupie Interviewee (scenes deleted)

• as themselves:

• Peter Asher

• Clint Black

• David Bowie

• Billy Connolly

• Tom Hanks

• Carrie Fisher

• Mick Jagger (archive footage)

• Jewel

• Steve Martin

• Graham Nash

• Mike Nichols

• Conan O'Brien

• Bonnie Raitt

• Salman Rushdie

• Garry Shandling

• Dave Stewart

• James Taylor

• Jann Wenner

Background
In the interviews with David Bowie, he is seen holding a copy of the vinyl album The Rutles 1, calling it a "piece of marketing extravagance." The interview in the film shows the cover of the album with a black circle that has the words "27 No. 1 Songs on One LP". In the DVD extras, the circle on the album cover says "27 No. 1 Songs on 1 CD", even though this is a vinyl record album. Either way, this was the only time that a Rutles album was practically identical to a Beatles album in both album cover and title.

Reception
The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch received mainly negative reviews, with many complaining that it was simply an update for modern audiences. Idle did not ask for the participation of Fataar, Halsey, Weis or Innes for the making of the film, viewing it as a solo project. It contained no new interviews with the Rutles; Rutle footage consisted of outtakes and unused film produced for the original 1978 mockumentary. Idle did new interviews with Hanks, Raitt, Williams, Shandling and Rushdie. Though he had declined to participate in the 1996 release of Archaeology, Idle used songs from the album in the film.