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FUNNY STORY
Director: Michael J. Gallagher Cast: Matthew Glave, Emily Bett Rickards, Jana Winternitz, Nikki Limo, Lily Holleman, Jessica Diggins, Aschleigh Jensen, Daisye Tutor, Pete Gardner, Reginald VelJohnson MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:24 Release Date: 5/24/19 (limited) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 23, 2019 Co-writer/director Michael J. Gallagher's Funny Story is, indeed, funny and also perceptive about a man who is his own worst enemy. This is to say that the film begins as a comedy of errors and evolves with the realization that those errors were choices and that choices have consequences. The errors in Walter's (Matthew Glave) life began well before the story of Gallagher and Steve Greene's screenplay starts. He's a washed-up actor in Los Angeles whose legacy (and financial stability) continues to be defined by his starring role on a cheesy fantasy TV show from a couple decades ago. He's divorced. His daughter Nic (Jana Winternitz) hasn't wholly forgiven him for leaving her mother for Lucy (Daisye Tutor). Just as he's about to break up with her, Lucy announces that she's pregnant. Clearly feeling stuck and wanting to reconcile the relationship with his daughter, Walter accepts an offer to spend a weekend with Nic and her friends at a commune in Big Sur. He also agrees to pick up Kim (Emily Bett Rickards), one of Nic's friends, and bring her along. Let's just say that Kim is troubled and that Walter hasn't given up his womanizing ways just because he's about to become a father again. The story revolves around a terrible decision that the two make, as well as the revelation that Nic and Kim aren't simply friends. The comedy here is intentionally awkward, as Walter has to decide if a lie is better than the truth, while Kim is adamant about keeping a secret, if only to keep the one constant she thinks she has in life. The desperation here keeps the momentum going, and the screenplay keeps finding new ways to stick it to Walter's aptly ailing conscience. In its depiction of a sort of unaware egocentrism, Glave's performance makes us understand Walter's self- and otherwise destructive ways, without making him an object of obvious scorn of unearned sympathy. It's his story, which means that we're kept at a distance from the other characters (We get a broad idea of Kim and Nic, while the other residents of the commune are played as a way for Walter to further embarrass himself), and the film's final scene is far too optimistic. Still, Funny Story is an amusingly uncomfortable character study, willing and determined to put its protagonist in his justly unpleasant place. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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