Hit Man (2023)
Director: Richard Linklater
Screenwriter: Richard Linklater, Glen Powell
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Retta, Sanjay Rao, Austin Amelio, Molly Bernard

There’s an undeniable star quality to Glen Powell; as Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick, Finnegan in Everybody Wants Some, and John Glenn in Hidden Figures, Powell presents an assured all-American charm reminiscent of the early work of actors such as George Clooney and Richard Gere. His cocky smile and magnetic screen presence make him an easy actor to trust and spend time with. Although he pops up here and there in supporting roles, Powell is an actor we are collectively ready to see more from. With Hit Man, his newest collaboration with Richard Linklater (The Before Trilogy, School of Rock), Powell finally shows off the full extent of what he can do. 

Hit Man, co-written by Powell and Linklater following their collaboration on stoner-baseball comedy Everybody Wants Some, is a perky action-comedy based on a true-crime article by Skip Hollingsworth. It follows Gary Johnson, a mild-mannered philosophy professor, and the twist of fate that leads him to become a fake contract killer for the New Orleans police department. While the police wait outside to make arrests, Gary leads a series of successful sting operations, luring in a slew of angry husbands, wives, criminals and coworkers, all looking to pay for murderous revenge. In lively voiceover narration, Gary often reminds us that contract killers don’t really exist, but he excels at his job because he understands what people are looking for. Gary looks to fulfil the individual fantasies of his targets, incorporating prosthetics, fashion, vivid detail and personality makeovers into his roles, landing an arrest each time. 

Gary is on a winning streak until he meets Maddy Masters (Adria Arjona: Morbius, 6 Underground), a disgruntled wife who is sick of her husband’s controlling behaviour. After researching Maddy, Gary creates a new alter-ego named Ron to be her personalised contract killer. Ron is a sexually confident, easy-on-the-eye gentleman with a tough-guy edge. Even Gary’s co-workers agree that Ron is something special. However, after hearing about the hard time Maddy is going through, Ron takes pity on her, and so that she can avoid arrest, he encourages her to take the money she was willing to spend on killing her husband and use it to leave and start a new life. Everything goes well until Maddy gets back in touch, and the pair begin to date. When he and Maddy are together, Gary adopts his confident killer alter-ego, and as time slips by, eventually, the lines between Gary and Ron start to blur. 

There’s so much fun to Richard Linklater’s work; he’s a director who uncompromisingly makes whatever he wants to make. From stoner comedies to twelve-year passion projects, Linklater approaches all his filmmaking with a sense of ownership. Although we’re never too sure what to expect from him as a storyteller, we can be confident that Linklater will always pull out the stops and throw himself into any project. This could not be more true for Hit Man; Powell and Linklater take a risky leap and just keep running. The result is hilarious and wildly surprising. Throughout the movie, we are never sure which corner they are going to turn next, and it’s so exciting to see the payoff of their commitment to this character and his wild journey. 

Glen Powell shines in the lead role, showing off a range of talent in comedy, action and improvisation. The film allows him space to play around with a variety of contract killer characters, from a Hannibal Lecter-type psycho to a gun-touting redneck. We can visibly see him having fun with his characters, and there is a sense that Linklater has given him the freedom to experiment and throw around ideas. It’s also fun to see him play Gary, the meek, jean-shorts-wearing, sensible philosophy teacher who seems like the complete antithesis of the charming Hollywood star. He plays his double agent act almost too well, making for riotous fun when his alter-ego Ron faces a task he’s supposedly a pro at, like shooting targets or fighting. Powell holds his own against a hilarious supporting cast. As his police co-workers, Sanjay Rao and ‘Parks and Recreation’ star Retta ground the script in comedy. With their great deadpan timing, they often pull the narrative back where it needs to be and give the proceedings a light and silly air. In his first major leading role, Powell cements himself as an actor unwilling to take himself too seriously, and he is thrilling to watch throughout. Hit Man is his most entertaining role so far, and it’s exciting to think what will come next for this emerging star.

It’s often hard to predict where Linklater will go as a filmmaker. The Before Trilogy and Boyhood feel worlds apart from School of Rock and Dazed and Confused. Yet, no matter his project, Linklater always feels present within his work, focusing his lens wherever there is a story to tell. He often focuses on loose and easy narratives, particularly regarding the passage of time – his timescale being anywhere between one day and twelve years. Hit Man. although infused with comedy, asks whether a person can change over time. Through a battle between the Superego and the ID, can we become the people we want to be? Can we change the foundations of who we are? Richard Linklater’s Hit Man presents a hilarious action-packed adventure in an attempt to answer this question, and the result is one of the most fun and original movies in years. 

Score: 18/24

Theater Camp (2023)
Directors: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman
Screenwriters: Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt
Starring: Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Jimmy Tatro, Ayo Edebiri

The New York premiere of the much-anticipated comedy, Theater Camp, was an understated yet surprisingly lively event. Less than 24 hours after the SAG strike went into effect, the film debuted to the public at the Lincoln AMC, sans cast who was set to introduce their work. Nevertheless, audience members were in high spirits and there was popcorn to be had as people filed into the theater. 

Theater Camp follows a rich Hollywood tradition of examining the dialed-up drama found at any American summer camp. From The Parent Trap to Friday the 13th, summer camp has made moviegoers laugh, cry, and scream for as long as movies have been around. The idyllic backdrop of string bracelets, lakes with canoes, and bunks shared with friends from other cities is as familiar as it is deliciously specific. The enclosed space pushes the story forward and prompts the characters to reach a boiling point as they are forced to confront their issues with one another within the walls of the crumbling venue.

Most directly, Theater Camp is the descendent of the 00s cult classic, Wet Hot American Summer. Serving as the launching pad for many a career (Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, and Paul Rudd all have starring roles), Wet Hot American Summer is a raunchy take on the summer camp flick. Satirizing the sexed-up counsellors and their inappropriate leadership styles, the film put fresh eyes on the world of summer sleep-away camps. Contrasting the virginal, “All-American” reputation set by films of the past, Wet Hot American Summer was initially poorly reserved by the public but has since become essential comedy viewing. Perhaps because of the groundwork laid by the previous film, Theater Camp was allowed to soar in its unapologetic exploration of theater nerds and their interpersonal relationships. 

Like the 2001 film before it, Theater Camp draws on a wealth of talent from their child stars and a fundamental understanding of the institution they set to satirize. With counselors Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) and Amos (Ben Platt) leading the charge, anybody who has set foot in a drama classroom in their youth will see themselves in this film. Both Gordon and Platt have a deep connection to the material as both have backgrounds in theater and this is evident in their characters. The neurotic and borderline abusive camp counselors will stop at nothing to produce the best original musical upstate New York has ever seen. They aren’t afraid to berate their child stars (dubbed the most talented kids at camp) to get their final product. 

Janet (Ayo Edebiri) is another highlight. Due to a severe lack of funding, the camp director Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is forced to open positions up to just about anyone who will take them. Introduced simply as “lied on her résumé”, Janet muddles her way through the camp the best she can with the made-up skill set she came with. Though it’s a small role, Edebiri once again proves that she can steal any scene she has a line in. From facial expressions to line delivery, she is a star in the making. 

The best part of theater camp is its ability to combine effortless humor with a sincere love for the experience. More than anything else, it’s evident that every member of the cast has some connection to their character – no matter how exaggerated they might be. There’s a heartfelt (and hilarious) number at the end of the film that expresses this sentiment – theater camp is home for the kids who don’t fit in. No matter how cutthroat or strange it might seem to the outside world, the theater provides refuge and community for so many kids struggling to find their identity. Whether they are part of the LGBTQ+ community, face bigotry in their home life, or are just searching for a place to belong, the theater gives that to so many people. 

The release of this film felt particularly powerful at a time when the future of actors and writers is up in the air. Theater Camp acutely embodies the emotional journey of wondering if you’re ever going to make it in the industry. With empathetic and succinct writing, and a cast and crew that put every fiber of their being into crafting a comedy that feels emotionally true to the real world, it is essential to assert the power of writers and actors in the arts. Theater Camp is a reminder that comedies like this are special and are only possible with the tireless (and often thankless) dedication of the people who make them. 

Score: 23/24

No Hard Feelings (2023)
Director: Gene Stupnitsky
Screenwriters: Gene Stupnitsky, John Phillips
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Natalie Morales

Former Oscar winners trying their hands at comedic roles is something of a common occurrence, albeit with varying degrees of success. When it’s done right, the results are an enjoyable treat that many of us can get behind. Directed by Gene Stupnitsky (Good Boys), No Hard Feelings puts Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence to the test in this sex-infused adult comedy about a thirty-something Uber driver who gets hired to date an inexperienced 19-year-old who’s en route to college. Unsurprisingly, Lawrence excels in a role she’s clearly having a lot of fun with, and one that should cement her place as a comedy tour de force for years to come.

Maddie (Lawrence) is a woman in her thirties who lives and breathes her hometown of Montauk, New York (the location famously depicted in 2004 romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and the house her mother left her. Maddie splits her time between working in a beach-side bar and as an Uber driver, but struggles to make ends meet. With the tax man knocking, and her car getting taken as collateral, Maddie turns to the job advertisements on Craigslist to find herself some hope. The beacon of light she searches for shines in the form of an ad posted by concerned parents Laird and Allison (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti), who are willing to pay someone (while throwing in a car for good measure) to date their introverted and socially awkward 19-year-old son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). As expected, the maneater Maddie (with the Hall and Oats song often being referenced throughout) jumps at the chance to earn some easy money, but she gets more than she bargained for with this slippery young teen.

This seemingly innocent film brings a lot of controversy with it. Is this film glamourising a form of sexual grooming and exploitation? There’s certainly an argument for it, and the recent media backlash will try to support that very notion. Would the film even be made if the roles were reversed? We all know the answer to that question. Granted, some moments do make you feel slightly uneasy as we watch this desperate woman pull out all the tricks to bed this teenage boy for money. This is supposed to be an outrageous comedy, aimed at being controversial and very icky, but not once does it condone this type of behaviour. Instead, No Hard Feelings laments the entire situation as something highly irregular and very embarrassing, with Maddie often being the brunt of several age and loser-related jokes throughout.

Jennifer Lawrence is the key to making this film successful and moving it away from the above claims: her timing is impeccable, the physical comedy is a joy, and she clearly steals every scene. Her willingness to make fun of herself in any and all ways is a real treat and one that you cannot get tired of. The performance of Andrew Barth Feldman as the 19-year-old teen at the centre of the narrative warrants a distinguished word as well. He is the embodiment of millions of people: lonely, sheltered, unaware and scared of the world around him. The character’s willingness to find a deeper connection and a romance with someone, rather than meaningless sex, is almost poetic and should be the detail that becomes the focus of the film instead of the “controversial” tosh that has become the bigger talking point.

No Hard Feelings’ more blatant problem is that it’s very predictable. It goes through the same tropes that you would expect to see in a film like this: the awkward initial meeting (although it’s one of the film’s humorous highlights), the establishment of the relationship, and then the film’s final clarity that expectedly wraps everything up. It might not break any new ground in terms of what has already been achieved in the genre, but it does enough to place itself at the top end of the collection.

Filled with quirks, No Hard Feelings has plenty of genuine laughs scattered throughout, and is effective in wanting to be something a little more as well. Is it tacky? Only slightly. Is it a little tedious at times? Perhaps. It’s definitely not a film for everyone, that’s for sure, but there should be an audience ready to digest a raunchy and good-natured comedy with a brilliant lead performance.

Score: 15/24

Written by John McDonald

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Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Screenwriters: Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer, Alan Tilvern, Stubby Kaye, Kathleen Turner, Christopher Lloyd, Lou Hirsch

Jaded, scotch-swilling private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is embroiled in a story of adultery and murder in this classic Touchstone Pictures film… for children. While it doesn’t sound like the best premise for a PG feature, Who Framed Roger Rabbit became an instant classic.

Valiant lives in a world where cartoon characters are as real as he is, mixing animation and live action like other childhood gems such as Pete’s Dragon (1977) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). There is something magical and appealing about combining the real world with everyone’s favourite cartoon characters. It’s the Toy Story principle: ‘what if those pretend things I love come alive?’ And, because so few of these mixed-media films followed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it remains the pinnacle of the genre.

Cartoon rabbit Roger (Charles Fleischer) is a beloved network star, so when he is framed for murder, his boss R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern) wants his name cleared. Valiant is called in to uncover the sordid truth, and it doesn’t take long for the equal parts infuriating and loveable bunny to get under his skin. Eddie’s journey from embittered soul to reluctant hero is as wholesome as any Disney jape.

Valiant’s deep distrust of the toons he shares a life with adds a palpable tension between the characters, and it is this tension that drives the story. Eddie’s averseness to being involved with the community he associates with his brother’s death makes it more satisfying when Roger wins him over. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the ultimate buddy movie, something that director Robert Zemeckis explores frequently in his films – from Doc and Marty in Back to the Future to Chuck and Winston in Cast Away, Zemeckis is a dab hand at exploring non-traditional friendships with warmth and feeling.

Its eighties aura and forties setting do mean that quite a percentage of Who Framed Roger Rabbit might not quite stand up to modern-day scrutiny. Particularly its portrayal of women. Jessica Rabbit (played by the bizarrely uncredited Kathleen Turner), for instance. Based on forties bombshells, she makes Barbie dolls look like an attainable body type. Her flagrant sensuality is a lot to handle, especially when you consider that in this world of toons and people someone invented her purely for entertainment. But deep down she’s a golden-hearted broad who just loves a funny guy. She’s not bad, she was just drawn that way.

Modern parents might well wince at the humour and innuendo. As with all animated films, many jokes are intended for the adults, sailing over the heads of the younger audience members. Who Framed Roger Rabbit pushes that to its limit. Jibes about sexual proclivity, prostate problems, and alcoholism can all be found in abundance. “Bitch” and “bastard” make an appearance, as does cartoon violence that goes far beyond slapstick. But Incredibles 2 (2018) had a brainwashed mother attack her baby so kids can cope with a bit of darkness in their art.

The adult themes and classic film noir tropes knit seamlessly with those more expected of a family film. The presence of the cartoons literally brightens up the dank back-alley bars. Long reaching shadows, blackmail, damsels in distress, a 40s setting, innocent people accused of a crime. They’re all there. Allusion, rather than graphic depiction, is another trope often used in film noir that works in a children’s film. And flawed heroes with crosses to bear. Eddie Valiant is definitely an anti-hero, but in all the right ways. Much like Disney’s Robin Hood, a fox who does so many bad things but for all the right reasons.

While the hero of the film is nuanced and complicated. The villain is clear. Christopher Lloyd – who previously worked with director Robert Zemeckis on Back to the Future (1985)– is impeccable with his truly unhinged Judge Doom. He is perhaps one of the greatest movie villains of all time. Lloyd doesn’t blink once while on screen. His tightrope walk between comedy and horror, veering wildly between the two, is mesmerising.

Well received by critics and audiences alike, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the second highest-grossing film of 1988, winning many of the awards it was nominated for – including (unsurprisingly) the BAFTA and Oscar for Best Visual Effects and the Academy’s Special Achievement Award. With its extended metaphor about how society treats those who are ‘other’, it remains relevant today. So, in some respects the film may seem dated with its leering male gaze (in itself arguably satire), but in others it remains a trailblazer, meaning the unforgettable pairing of Bob Hoskins and a cartoon rabbit is still very much worth a watch.

Score: 19/24

Robert Downey Jr is Harry, an East Coast thief who’s in LA after being discovered by a movie producer. To land the role of a lifetime, he needs detective lessons with Hollywood’s most reluctant teacher, the slick no-nonsense Perry (played by Val Kilmer). Harmony (Michelle Monaghan) is Harry’s estranged high school pal, who finds herself embroiled in Harry and Perry’s investigation when her sister commits suicide. Harmony suspects foul play, so it’s up to Harold the Great to fix it. As Perry says, ‘this business, real life, it’s boring’, so it should be a breeze.

In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we are counting down the smartest, most mad-cap, and exciting moments from Shane Black’s impressive feature directorial debut, for this: the 10 Best Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Moments.

Follow @thefilmagazine on Twitter.

10. Harry Kills a Guy

After witnessing the murder of a young woman, Harry (Robert Downey Jr) crawls out from under the bed and shoots the perpetrator. The thug who threatened him dumped the body of another girl in a lake. No one in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a typical thriller character – yes they get the job done but they are clumsy and unprofessional.

Harry’s conviction that he’s doing the right thing is clear, but he is obviously shaken by this kill. His tearful confession to Perry (Val Kilmer) in the aftermath is sweet and only somewhat diluted by the dog swallowing his finger.

It’s an interesting start for a man who will tot up quite a kill count by the end.

9. The Spider

In isolation, this moment is nothing particularly special, but when considered alongside all the other times Harry proves himself to be a good guy it becomes worth mentioning.

Harry is the complete antithesis to usual spy movie heroes in their expensive suits, swigging their martinis and bedding every woman they meet. Compared to those guys, Harry respects women. He goes out of his way to avert his eyes when they undress, lowers their hems to retain their modesty (even if they’re dead), and gets beaten up for defending them.

Harry is a bag of nervous energy who lacks experience or even common sense. He seems driven almost entirely by his own, slightly skewiff, moral compass. His speech after the spider incident is the closest he comes to articulating that.

Violent Night (2022)
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Writers: Pat Casey, Josh Miller
Starring: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Leah Brady, Beverly D’Angelo, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, Alexander Elliot

Christmas has many meanings. To some, it’s about spending time with family. To others, it’s a holiday to show their loved ones how much they care through meaningful gifts. For the Lightstone family, it’s a time to flex their wealth and avoid death at the hands of criminal masterminds. Most importantly for David Harbour’s rendition of Santa, Christmas is about getting violently drunk and kicking ass.

This hokey horror tale is a sleigh ride of Christmas puns and Home Alone-esque torture devices. Jason Lightstone (Alex Hassel) travels with his estranged wife Linda (Alexis Louder) and daughter Trudy (Leah Brady) to celebrate Christmas with a less-than-perfect family. Locked away in the “most secure private residence in the country”, Jason’s family is snobbish, entitled, and endlessly money-obsessed. In the midst of a tension-filled Christmas eve, the house is breached by spirited robbers headed by a man who calls himself Scrooge (John Leguizamo). At the same time, drunken Santa Claus has made himself comfortable in the estate. Soon, the family and old Saint Nick himself must ward off their attackers with a little bit of Christmas magic and a whole lot of violence.

Violent Night’s charm is in its absurdity. Drunk Santa and his Viking warrior past are as fun to watch as they are utterly ridiculous. Though the film veers into clichés at times, the vision of mindless, violent joy allows us to sink into this bloodbath of a Christmas comedy – we spend the duration of the film concerned with merry weapons and jolly perversions of the usual holiday magic. At times, Violent Night indulges in its woefully overdone theme, but it’s always sure to reel us back in with some good old-fashioned carnage.

David Harbour and John Leguizamo deliver equally over-the-top and hilarious performances as the two face off in an epic holiday battle. Scrooge is the king of holly, jolly one-liners such as “bah humbug, m*therf*ckers”, which Leguizamo delivers with the seriousness of a mob boss. The film pokes fun at holiday feel-good tropes, and the main actors understand the assignment. Harbour embodies the bumbling, alcoholic Santa of our fever dreams – he is blood-soaked, tattooed, and skilled with a hammer he has nicknamed “Skullcrusher”. Of course, he’s still got the iconic “ho ho ho” nailed down.

The rest of the Lightstone clan round out this absurd winter nightmare. Matriarch Gertrude Lightstone (Beverly D’Angelo) lands somewhere between Lucille Bluth of ‘Arrested Development’ and Logan Roy of ‘Succession’ in terms of ruthlessness. When the family enters her pristinely decorated bunker of a home, Gertrude greets them with a slew of foul language and business-related phone calls. Later, she even chastises her daughter with a comically despicable line encouraging her to hit her child. There’s also Jason’s desperate sister, Alva (Edi Patterson), and her starving artist boyfriend, Morgan Steale (Cam Gigandet), who are happy to grovel at the feet of their billionaire mother. Morgan Steale gifts Gertrude a pitch deck (including the “financials”) for Christmas, and Alva names her child Bertrude (Alexander Elliot) after her mother. Without a redeeming quality in the world, the family makes for a hilariously pathetic group of victims.

Graphic depictions of violence play a strange tribute to their holiday ancestors. Trudy Lightstone sets off a series of traps – including the iconic nails in the floorboard bit – as a nod to Home Alone. The film is well aware that it is indebted to the more sincere classics that paved the way for this horror-comedy extravaganza.

Certainly not for those with weak stomachs, Violent Night has a little bit of heart and a whole lot of gore. This delightful subversion of a Christmas film takes us to places we’ve never been before, especially on such a holy day. Anybody who’s sick of the sincerity this holiday season will love the drunken holiday heist.

Score: 18/24

Recommended for you: [YouTube] Home Alone Movies Ranked

Written by Emi Grant

You can support Emi Grant in the following places:

Instagram – @emi.grant
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Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Director: Halina Reijn
Screenwriter: Sarah Delappe
Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, Pete Davidson

Featuring an ensemble cast of names that have appeared in a variety of projects – from Amandla Stenberg whose breakout role as Rue in The Hunger Games made audiences weep in their cinema seats back in 2012, to Lee Pace whose filmography has included many pop-culture delights such as Garret from Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Halina Reijn’s third directorial project Bodies Bodies Bodies has hit the big screen, making an unknown actor-director a new name amongst the comedy-horror fanbase.

Beginning with the arrival of young couple Sophie (Stenberg) and Bee (Maria Bakalova) to a large mansion hidden behind security gates, the guests making up Bodies Bodies Bodies’ cast prepare for a hurricane party hosted by Pete Davidson’s David. As the night closes in, we are introduced to the tensions in the friendship group, with a murder-themed party game becoming the deadly trigger for chaos as the storm breaks outside.

The majority of Bodies Bodies Bodies takes place in the dark as the hurricane causes a power outage, this plotline feeling akin to “the-killer-cut-the-phonelines” trope but adopted for the ultra-connected contemporary age. This increases the panic factor, with the characters’ stress spiking to new levels as they lose their connections to the outside world. The inherent scariness of not knowing what lies just beyond their line of sight is compounded as light sources appear mainly in the form of the characters’ phone torches as they run through the house, which in approach comes across as a fun nod to horror films like The Blair Witch Project which used limited lighting as a way to lean on what you can’t see as the biggest horror of them all. In its cinematography, this chaotic lighting is effective in aiding the chaos of the story while injecting a sense of realism that is found in using a less organized mode of lighting. The inclusion of tangled glow sticks draped around Rachel Sennott’s character ensures the lighting is used as a comedic tool too, which considering the comedy-horror genre is a smart move from cinematographer Jesper Wolf.

There are many shining talents in this film, the iPhone torch function being one of them, but it’s Rachel Sennott’s role as Alice that is most memorable, her quintessential Twitter voice and excellent comedic timing chimes in with stolen words from a jumble of internet discourse: “it’s ableist”, “I am an ally”, “he’s a libra-moon”. These moments mould the satire in the film, which soon feels like a twitter feed after a huge event, each character reacting and overreacting to every moment more dramatically than the next. The tip-tapping of phone keys becomes a staccato accompaniment to the shrill screams of its cast.

The casting choices have had their fair share of indie titles (notably Sennott’s appearance in Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby), but choosing actors who have had their time in the Tumblr-teen limelight feels like a smart decision when the project itself relies on the satire of gen-z online privilege and culture. Who else would celebrate a hurricane with drugs and drunken party games, if not a group made up of wealthy university graduates? They practice TikTok trends and dance to Azealia Banks’ “212” as the storm rages, safe inside their world, or so they think. It is Sophie’s girlfriend Bee (Bakalova), the quiet eastern-European woman with little privilege or wealth who is thrust into the party nervously holding homemade zucchini bread, who represents the outlier in this film. She represents the authenticity of people the others are socially removed from, both in class and culture, and it is made obvious as the characters make their not-so-subtle references to wealth, as if the huge houses are not obvious enough. While this isn’t the most cutting deconstruction of class found in film – certainly no Ken Loach creation – it is a meaningful aspect of the story that provides connection in a privileged and socially disconnected group.

The success and charm of this story is in its cast who are trapped in a sort of Lord of the Flies-esque derailment that threatens their friendships and their lives. At the heart of their story is distrust and inauthenticity that reveals their insecurities like an open wound. The whole story becomes a metaphor for the generation itself, and their relationship to the internet. They begin to see danger where it does not exist and refuse to understand nuance where it is, which leads to the climactic (or some would say anti-climactic) end.

Satirising gen-z culture is becoming more popular of an angle in contemporary horror, with topics such as content culture and social media performance interpreting the age-old horror tropes of figures in hidden masks and the impulse to exploit. Horror has always discussed the grotesque quirks of its audiences, from films like Mary Harron’s American Psycho (2000) which portrayed the misogynist-sociopathic angles of yuppie culture, to Eugene Kotylarenko’s Spree (2020) starring Joe Keery who plays an attention-seeking uber driver who livestreams his kills.

At its core, Bodies Bodies Bodies is a film that knows its audience and the online world they live in. It plays well with its cast and their respective places on the internet, while understanding the nuances of Gen Z culture as something that can be fondly mocked. Halina Reijn has proved with this project that she is one to watch both in the horror and comedy genres, and her fun command of storytelling will leave you anxiously awaiting her next project. If you’re looking to poke fun at the kids or experience some top-notch ironic Twitter discourse, then this is a film that won’t disappoint. Although its horror elements do err on the side of caution, the comedy will leave you satisfied if the jump scares and blood-covered cast do not.

Score: 22/24

Written by Morgan Barr

You can follow Morgan Barr on Twitter – @Barr_Grylls

Official Competition (2021)
Directors: Gastón Duprat, Mariano Cohn
Screenwriters: Gastón Duprat, Andrés Duprat, Mariano Cohn
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martínez

Continuing his late career resurgence, thanks in no small part to Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory, Antonio Banderas stars alongside Penélope Cruz and Oscar Martínez in the Spanish dark comedy Official Competition. 

Millionaire Humberto Suárez, hoping to improve his public image, decides to finance a movie. Not just any movie, a great movie. To do so he takes on eccentric director Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz) and two of Spain’s top actors, prestigious stage actor Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez) and egocentric worldwide star Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas). Taking place in a gorgeous yet ridiculously huge mansion, the entire film has a great look to it, helped by the cinematography of Arnau Valls Colomer. This is one of those films in which everything is always framed perfectly for a good joke.

The movie gets off to a hilarious start with the cast’s first rehearsal, with Iván unable to get past the first line of dialogue, “buenas noches”, because Lola claims it just isn’t right – “once more” Lola demands. Martinez repeats the line over and over again until finally Lola is happy with his reading. It is a thoroughly entertaining scene that sets up not only the central characters but the whole movie in many ways. Lola, putting the actors through eccentric and seemingly meaningless tasks to ensure the best performances; Iván, sure of his abilities, feels as though he is better than this; Félix smugly watches on as his co-star (and rival) squirms underneath the unconventional practices of their director. It is through this three-way relationship that Official Competition builds tension, making for some excellent drama and genuine hilarity. 

Directors Duprat and Cohn use these characters, their relationships, and the situations they get themselves into, in order to emphasize how ridiculous the film industry is, and to satirise it without mercy. Particularly, the film focuses on the honesty of the industry; what is true and what is deceit? What is fake and what is real? It is an excellent subject to focus on. And better yet, in spite of drilling distrust into each of us, directors Duprat and Cohn continue to convince us that everything we are seeing and hearing is true. Then, just when we are certain of it, the movie cracks a joke and laughs in our faces for being so gullible.

Despite how it may lean more obviously towards jokes and punchlines, Official Competition is actually a very interesting area of study so far as the authenticity of actors goes. When actors are in front of the camera, how much of their character is a character and how much is them? Outside of their work, how kind are they, how kind are they pretending to be? It is an interesting series of questions, especially months after Will Smith’s very public unravelling at the 2022 Oscars. 

Although the subject matter and the fact it is an international film may seem to cater more to hardcore film fans, the involvement of mainstream stars like Banderas and Cruz, as well as the belly laugh comedy of the film, make it a thoroughly enjoyable movie that could appeal to all.

Official Competition is an exciting new comedy coming out of Spain, the type of comedy we don’t seem to get anymore from the UK or Hollywood; a much needed breath of fresh air that is sure to keep you laughing until the credits roll.

Score: 20/24

The Bob’s Burgers Movie (2022)
Director: Loren Bouchard, Bernard Derriman
Screenwriters: Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith
Starring: H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, John Roberts

When it comes to animated sitcom films, audiences want the same show they love but more cinematic. This can bring together the two contradictory goals of TV (stability) and film (bombastic extravagance). In film versions of such shows, the animation gets fancier, the stories get bigger, the celebrity cameos are arranged, but none of it can really alter the course of the show because the fans want to keep coming back to the places and characters they love. Striking the balance can be difficult, but The Bob’s Burgers Movie does it perfectly, giving lovers of the show all the things they love in a form appropriate for the big screen.

‘Bob’s Burgers’ has had 238 episodes since 2011. The light-hearted comedy follows the Belcher family as they deal with typical (and not-so-typical) family problems and eccentric locals in their seaside town. Bob and Linda run a burger restaurant and are always on the verge of financial ruin, but they persevere to help keep their lives together. The kids – Tina, Gene, and Louise – each have their own set of quirks, and have incredible comic timing together. Regular supporting characters include their landlord Mr. Fischoeder, regular customer and Bob’s best friend Teddy, and Tina’s perpetual love interest Jimmy Pesto Jr., whose father owns a restaurant across the street from Bob. It’s one of the most wholesome comedies on TV, showing that not all adult cartoons need to be in the ‘Family Guy’ or Adult Swim molds.

The film finds the Belchers at the end of the school year, and they are once again on the verge of financial ruin as the bank won’t extend their loan. When Bob thinks things couldn’t get any worse, a sinkhole opens up in front of the restaurant. Louise journeys into the sinkhole, and a skeleton falls on her. Police arrive and arrest a suspect, but the kids launch their own investigation to find the real killer and somehow save their family’s restaurant. It’s always possible that a film’s story and stakes will be too big, like in Suicide Squad (2016), but this murder investigation allows the film to incorporate something exciting and dramatic (which the show is no stranger to) while not venturing too far beyond the realms of possibility within story’s world.

The most striking change in the show for regular viewers is the lighting. It’s a level of “cinematography” not achieved by the TV show, which is often rather flat beyond moments of emphasis. There’s so much shadow its like a parody of the great classic noir films, but it never seems sarcastic. In the opening, the kids walk with the sun to their backs, casting dark shadows across their front, and later a Tina daydream shows striking sun rays emerging through clouds. It’s an excellent touch that gives the impression that this is a film, not an episode of a television show. The “camerawork” never gets too crazy, following the standard look of the show outside of a couple of sequences, which also helps to maintain the feeling of the show (which has its own moments of dynamism and movie references).

The Bob’s Burgers Movie doesn’t get too crazy with the side characters, either. ‘Bob’s Burgers’ features tons of great celebrity voice actors in amusing roles, and the film keeps the cast tight with nods to the show’s depth throughout. Shoving in characters could have been a cheap way to fill time, but all of the characters in the film play an important role. Those featured get plenty of time for expansion, too. The pier’s carnival workers get an entire song about how they’re mistreated by their boss (Mr. Fischoeder) and unfairly maligned by society. It represents the pathos found within the show, where outcasts of any type are accepted by the family when others might not be so caring.

One of the weaker points may be the character arcs. Certainly these aren’t what are most important in a comedy film, but they are an element that the film emphasizes. This is a film based on a TV show, and that can be problematic because a show with 238 episodes is bound to have covered a certain aspect of a character or a desire they’ve had. But there is no innovation in what the characters want to accomplish or what they overcome throughout the story. Tina is still chasing Jimmy Jr. just like she has since season 1 with no interesting element of difference. The show has handled this relationship in more creative ways. Gene’s goal to play a napkin holder with spoons as an instrument at the pier sounds like a B-story in a mediocre episode of the show. The film is an opportunity for characters to do one-off things they wouldn’t normally do, and these two characters particularly could have gotten a bit more to work with in the realm of the extraordinary offered by cinema.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie aimed to bring the Belcher family to the movies without doing anything too crazy. It achieves this, and manages to be a hilarious, entertaining, and natural work within the show’s typical style and structure. It’s feel-good and family-friendly, too. Adapting television to the big screen can be difficult, but this film is an example of how well it can be done despite the two mediums’ competing goals.

Score: 20/24

Wanderlust follows George and Linda Gergenblatt (Rudd and Aniston), who, in the span of what seems like a few days, are forced to sell the New York City apartment they just bought after losing any prospect of work in the city. On their way to stay with George’s crass but successful brother Rick (played by ‘State’ member and the film’s co-writer Ken Marino), they pull into an ostensible bed and breakfast called Elysium, whose overwhelming hospitality they cautiously accept. It turns out that Elysium is a commune, the free-wheeling values of which directly contradict the uptight New York lifestyle George and Linda had been living. After a short stay with Rick and his family, George becomes fed up with Rick’s constant bragging and harassing, and they return to Elysium to lead a more enlightened life.

As much as the film’s premise and even trailers might lead you to believe that Wanderlust would place firmly on the more traditional end of the spectrum, all of Wain’s trademarks are here: it has a handle on its plot while still pausing to take time for more non-sequiturs; it has an expansive cast of expert sketch comedy professionals, many of whom featured in ‘The State’ and throughout Wain’s filmography; its visual creativity is consistent with its comedic ingenuity; it even continues Wain’s trend of utilizing in-jokes between films, drawing your attention to the voice behind the film who will not let you forget his desire to subvert. It is a consistently funny and farcical take on a relatively generic premise, with an energetic boost from its stacked cast. 

However, an additional layer to Wanderlust was unearthed via the release of the film’s DVD/Blu-Ray, which saw the inclusion of Wanderlust: The Bizarro Cut. The Bizarro Cut is something of a B-side to the theatrically released cut. It is the same story made up of entirely different takes and jokes, as well as full deleted scenes, presented as its own film entirely. Before we dig deeper into that, though, there are a few factors in the preceding decade of American studio comedies that allowed this to happen.

Another comedic auteur and titan of American cinema in the 2000s was film director and Wanderlust producer Judd Apatow. Often criticized for his excessive runtimes, Apatow’s films often saw their actors improvising lines and riffing with one another on camera in order to achieve a more naturalistic interplay between characters. This was such a staple in his filmmaking in this decade, in fact, that the DVD releases of the films he produced and directed included not only extended “Unrated” cuts of the films, but the special features were loaded with gag reels and what the film crews referred to as “Line-o-Ramas,” which were supercuts of unused jokes that the actors improvised on set. The theatrical cut of Wanderlust, which is Wain and Apatow’s only collaboration, owes a lot to Apatow’s increasingly influential style of comedic filmmaking, while the existence of the Bizarro Cut owes a lot to how that style was capitalized upon in their home video marketing. All of this is relevant in order to note that Wanderlust’s Bizarro Cut is not the first of its kind – in fact, the Apatow-produced Anchorman did the same thing with Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, and Wain’s own Wet Hot American Summer DVD release featured a “Fart Track,” which presents the film with additional fart sounds inserted throughout – but moreso to place Wanderlust in the context of American studio comedies at the time, and see how its craft is specifically deepened by the existence of the Bizarro Cut.

Having seen the Bizarro Cut, you experience the theatrical cut in a new way, seeing the obvious improvisational edge that is in each non-exposition-related delivery – the Bizarro Cut, of course, does its best to be rid of any and all plot semblance, speeding its way to Elysium within minutes where the theatrical cut takes more time with its set-up – which makes the film even funnier and more exciting to watch. To return to the absurdity spectrum posited in the first paragraph, Wanderlust’s theatrical cut feels like it is dead in the center, constantly threatening to become generic before it’s jerked back toward the ludicrous. The Bizarro Cut, on the other hand, lies on the furthest end of the absurd side, holding no obligation to any studio-mandated notes and thus being allowed to intentionally and comedically alienate its audience. The unhinged comedic bits that you see in the Bizarro Cut are reined in for the theatrical cut, as they would risk narrative confusion. Ken Marino’s Rick, for example, is not going to “jokingly” beg his brother to fellate him and threaten suicide in front of his family in the theatrical version, because it may alter the audience’s ability to stay grounded in the story. It is even fair to ask if these jokes are as successful as those that make it into the theatrical cut, but that’s precisely where the film’s improvisational edge comes from.

That is not to say that the Bizarro Cut is without craft: it employs a tongue-in-cheek wrap-around narration from Alan Alda’s character that gives the whole thing a sense of structure while still being purposefully incongruous. In fact, the Bizarro Cut is quite valuable as a lesson on the comedy writing process at large: many of the jokes land successfully after having seen the theatrical version because they are such boiled down, borderline structureless versions of the ones we’ve seen in that cut. As intentionally oblique as Wain made the Bizarro Cut, the two versions as a package deal highlight each other’s strengths, the theatrical cut’s biggest of which is its ability to balance the uncut absurdity of the Bizarro Cut with digestible pacing and structure. 

It also appears as though Wain wants you to be constantly aware of his craft, as the Bizarro Cut is – like much of his work – authentically meta, drawing attention to the people behind the camera as often as possible. Some examples of this included Aniston’s Linda literally watching the Bizarro Cut on her video camera (the original cut has her watching videos of herself and George as she misses him in what registers as an emotional scene, instead); her same character being asked about depressing films by a child from the commune, eventually asking about Wain’s own The Ten, which she calls “painfully unfunny”; and callbacks to songs from both Wet Hot American Summer and Role Models for fans of Wain’s previous work. All of these factors and examples, while successfully absurd, mesh perfectly with the comedic world that Wain sets up via the Bizarro Cut’s editing and performances, especially that of Paul Rudd, who is at a career best here, because it makes space for his perfect combination of commitment to the role as well as commitment to making people on set laugh in a tongue-in-cheek way. His famous mirror monologue, in which he psyches himself up for intercourse, is something that seems to have worked its way from the Bizarro Cut into the theatrical cut unscathed, precisely because it is evidently born from improvisation.

10 years out from Wanderlust’s release, it feels like a quaint and underappreciated studio comedy, which has become increasingly rare as Hollywood blockbusters have dominated the theatrical landscape and most of the comedies that are released are done so via Netflix and other such streaming services. In addition to being merely underrated, though, it is a fascinating encapsulation of what makes David Wain one of the best American comedy filmmakers of the 21st century, as the film – in tandem with the Jekyll to its Hyde, the Bizarro Cut – offers a transparency around Wain’s process that he continues to share via his TikTok page. Wain’s excitement around filmmaking and joke-writing is tangible, and Wanderlust continues to please 10 years later because of it. 

Written by Nicholas Armstrong

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