Director: David Wain
Cast: Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd
Have I Seen It Before?: Never. That’s the secret anxiety of these reviews: Learning just how profoundly behind I am on the great stuff. As the streaming singularity looms, it’s becoming clear that I could strap myself to a TV and never catch up
Did I like it?: Truly, madly, deeply, but it took a moment.
For the first several minutes of the movie I became very concerned that the film might be too earnest for its own good, but I think the genius is that it lulls us in with a sense that it might be trying to be a normal film, but secretly is nuts under the surface.
One might even come to think that the tone is uneven. It is populated with performers who are more well-known from cerebral comedic material, passes itself off as a convincing replica of 80s films that had aged incredibly poorly, but it is actually an exercise in cascading non sequitur.
I can see why some people disliked the movie. I can even see why some people bordered on active hostility. It’s pointedly, blissfully aloof. I’ve been accused of the same more than once in my life, so the film becomes less a movie that I take in and try to detach myself from the experience to unpack what works and what doesn’t work. It’s more like meeting a friend for the first time who is—as unlikely as that seems to be at times—on my save wavelength.
So strange that I took so completely to something that I had missed for so long. I might delve deeper into the film but thank the Gods of streaming that Netflix decided to give us not one, but two seasons of additional stuff to watch.
Is that how you’re supposed to feel about a movie after its over? I guess it is now.