The Comedy

Bleak, aimless, horrifying, and often beautiful
You probably aren't reading this unless you already know a fair amount about this film and also know that its impossible-to-Google title is an "ironic" misnomer. If I may quote Sundance program guy Trevor Groth on The Comedy: "It's a provocation, a critique of a culture based at its core around irony and sarcasm and about ultimately how hollow that is."

Unfortunately, I find I cannot agree at all with Mr. Groth's summary. Casting Tim Heidecker as the lead in a movie with that intended message would be like someone in the late 1960s making a propaganda film on how electric guitar is a regressive scourge upon Western music, then using nothing but extensive concert footage of Jimi Hendrix to "make" their point.

No, if The Comedy has any central message-- and I am not sure that it does-- it's a more general existential message, not just a cautionary tale for unfeeling 4chan addicts and other self-made high-functioning sociopaths of our time.

I'm not a...

Brilliant Or Repellant? This Abrasive Character Study Is Not For Everyone
Looking for the feel good comedy of the year? A rollicking good time? Despite its title, "The Comedy" probably won't fit that bill. This is a movie that will certainly divide its audience. Is it a brilliant character study of the disaffected? Or is it simply a hateful and punishing experience that will leave you wondering what you just watched? To my estimation, it is both of these things simultaneously. And for this, you will either love or hate "The Comedy." Whichever side you fall on, though, I can't imagine you'll be indifferent to it! As a provocation, Rick Alverson's screenplay certainly succeeds. Much of the dialogue is pushed to the extremes of offensiveness. It's so calculated, in fact, that it becomes somewhat indulgent and unrelenting. The film is counterbalanced in some quieter moments, but there is no redemption at the end of this rainbow. If you need a big plot or noticeable character growth, "The Comedy" provides neither. It just shows a subculture of post...

On Ennui
The first reviewer (Rob) has written intelligently about The Comedy already, and I'd like to direct those interested toward his comments.

I do take issue, though, with some of his phrasing. I'd like to modify his "aimless" to "seemingly aimless" and his "pointless" to "quite pointed." The Comedy is actually satisfyingly symmetrical. Four key scenes illustrate this symmetry: the nurse/father scene at the beginning and the nurse/stranger in hospital scene at the end, plus the ride back from the boat with the party/Hitler girl at the beginning versus the ride back from the boat with Kate Lyn Sheil's waitress toward the end. I don't know that this structural balance shows an evolution in the character as much as it shows an evolution in the audience's understanding of the character. I love this technique and I love this movie.

Tim Heidecker knocks it loose as Swanson, and for all the hubbub about his "squirm-inducing" (or whatever) behavior, it's his silences...

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