Written & Directed by Harris Goldberg
Starring Matthew Perry, Lynn Collins, Kevin Pollack, Mary Steenburgen
Available at Amazon for $12.99
FILM: 
DVD:
THE FILM
Successful films, no matter how experimental, usually need to be likable. This is especially true of comedies, which require an audience to feel friendly enough towards the characters that they might laugh with them like they would an old friend.
Ultimately that is the failing of this direct-to-DVD release.
MATTHEW PERRY plays a Hollywood screenwriter/pitchman who smokes so much pot that he loses touch with reality. He alienates everyone around him – his writing partner (KEVIN POLLACK), his friends, and even his parents. Then he finds true love, which helps him overcome his anxiety.
We have seen this tired scenario a million times before. What we haven’t seen much of before is a character so annoying and frustrating fronting a supposed comedy like this. Perry’s character Hudson is infantile, paranoid, delusional, and generally self-absorbed. We watch him hyperventilate for no good reason, pop pills, freak out, and stare vacantly into space for long periods of time. When, at one point, his mother yells at him to “grow up,” I felt like cheering. Grow up, indeed.
With a main character like this, it’s extremely difficult to garner the audience’s sympathy and support. While watching it, I felt like I was back at a high school party … you know, those parties where a certain chick would get drunk and inevitably start crying for some reason in order to get attention. I hated comforting her then, and I definitely hate watching it in a movie. It’s similar to the feeling one gets while visiting your grandmother in the psycho ward. At first, you sympathize with her as she constantly makes and remakes her bed and rambles on about being pregnant. Soon the novelty wears off, and you start wanting to scream at her. This is how you feel about Perry’s character – not a good thing for the lead character in a comedy.
Perry and the rest of the cast does well with what they have, particularly MARY STEENBURGEN. The problem lies in the script, which wants to shoehorn repellent personalities into a soft romantic comedy formula. The resultant dialogue feels stale and engineered when it needs to be lighter and transporting. The other critical mistake comes from the extensive use of narration by Perry, which is a lazy way to tell this story. Narration works well if it’s used in context; THE PRINCESS BRIDE used a storytelling narration, or A CHRISTMAS STORY used it as a way to tell of an old man’s memories of his childhood. Here, the narration is used as a substitute for actual storytelling.
If there is a highlight, it involves the direction of HARRIS GOLDBERG. Through the use of creative shots and an interesting sound mix, Goldberg manages to convey both the highs and lows of drug use, as well as the freakish insulation of psychic trauma. Helping Goldberg tremendously is a wonderful score compiled by RYAN SHORE and MARGARET YEN. The music has a trippy, reverberating quality that lingers in the air like smoke.
It’s hard to recommend this movie. I would say that if you like spending an hour and a half with whiny, self-absorbed people, then this movie is for you. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
EXTRAS
Pretty slim, really. Aside from a commentary track by Goldberg, the only real extra is called NUMB: AN INSIDE LOOK which features most of the cast in interviews. However, I really didn’t want an inside look with these characters.
OVERALL
If you have never seen a romantic comedy before, then this film might surprise you. If you have never seen a movie about mental illness before, then this film might enlighten you. If you have never seen FRIENDS before, then Matthew Perry might interest you. However, if you don’t fall into any of those categories, then this film is not for you. And the DVD extras are not worth the price, either.
3 Comments
I am all for listening someone’s opinion of a film, or anything for that matter. But you are way off on this one. Obviously, the film did not resonate with you. These characters were anything but infantile. Perry’s performance is brilliant. He is suffering from Depersonalization Disorder, not a mental illness. Voice over in this film was pitch perfect. It juxtiposed the action to convey the information that, literally, could not be conveyed in any other way.
I’m not sure if you’re old enough to have seen “The Graduate,” but take a look at Dustin Hoffman’s incredibly contained performance.
Whenever a writer uses over-the-top criticisms to emphasize his dislike, i.e. “You know, those parties where a certain chick would get drunk and inevitably start crying for some reason in order to get attention. I hated comforting her then, and I definitely hate watching it in a movie” — this is the mark of someone likes to “attack” rather than logical comment. It is the sign of bad writing. A lack of insightfulness. Certainly someone who has never gone through anything that deep.
The performances were fabulous, as was this film. There are so many nuances which you missed that I just have to leave it at – You did not get this film at all.
@ Dave – I don’t consider it an attack, or sloppy writing as you put it. I was merely trying to come up with a universal example of what I disliked about the main character.
It’s funny how someone can attack me and accuse me of poor writing while criticizing me for poor writing at the same time. LOL.
Anyway, you’re absolutely right about one thing – I did not connect with this film at all. But that is, I suppose, one of the glories of movies – everyone gets something different. Roger Ebert gave a thumbs up to Indy 4, one of the most incoherent and poorly-made blockbusters of recent times, yet I would not call him either a poor writer or a poor critic.
I think this film is like any other film. It tells a story. Apparently you have never seen anyone suffer from a form of mental illness….or maybe you have one and that is why you have such a pissed off grudge gainst the movie. Either way the movie was enlightening to me and it is an inside look at the hell people with mental illness suffer. I don’t think most people realize that psychiatrists accutally are very odd people usually with mental illneses themselves. So when you are having a mental crisis and no one can help you but these people, it can be very frightening and even make a person MORE sucidal. This story is EXTREMELY accurate. It is like identical to most of the crap people go through with mental illness. But maybe you are one of those people who truely don’t belive in mental illness of this sort. If so, I pray you suffer just ONE really bad panic attack. Then you will never be the same.