Joshy - Ein voll geiles Wochenende

I haven't been more pleased with a modest indie this year as I was with the daringly (and misleadingly) named Joshy, starring some very bright funny young comic actors, including Silicon Valley's hero Thomas Middleditch.

It's not a stretch to say that Middleditch holds Mike Judge's usual- spot-on-brilliance together on the HBO series, yet it's tempting to relegate him to playing a very good "young tech type". Jeff Baena's Joshy doesn't exactly discard that perception of Middleditch but it's a fantastic vehicle for the actor's emotional range.

But this film isn't a one man show. It's a brilliant ensemble cast of (mostly) guys, drawn together after disparate periods apart from each other to support Josh (Middleditch) who's suffered a pre-marital setback that redefines Awkward. It's such a clever device that I won't reveal it, though it comes in the first five minutes of the film.

Adam Pally, Alex Ross Perry, Nick Kroll, and Bret Gelman kill with rapid-fire, naturally delivered one-liners that perfectly capture their age, maturity-level (or lack thereof), time and place (Ojai, CA -- very now), and most importantly their relation to each other as well as their biases, fears, and prejudices. It's been said the key to all drama is conflict and it works even better for comedy here. All the guys in this film have a lot going on, much more than they'd disclose about what they're really thinking, about Josh's horrific plight and about each other. It's also refreshing to see a film about guys being guys in Tech Culture 2016 without resorting to some half-baked Big Bang Theory clone. Even better, the indestructible Jenny Slate and Aubrey Plaza join in to kick the feminine factor through the solar-paned roof. Joe Swanberg even shows up in a hilarious cameo, inadvertently toting his wife and kids to this weekend-long drug and booze-filled orgython.

Most impressively, Joshy could even give the tired Mumblecore genre, where "nothing and everything happens" a good name again after some recent major-league misfires ("Results"). The flow of events in Joshy is, like its so-appalling-its-almost-funny McGuffin, so organically developed and executed that it almost seems plausible.

And just when you think there may really be *no* point, Middleditch slam-dunks an extremely cathartic last act monologue that is pain-filled and hypnotic.

I really did not expect this from the director of Life After Beth or I Heart Huckabees. It only makes Joshy all the more sweeter.

I watched this with no prior knowledge of what it would be and was very pleasantly surprised. There's a great cast, all of whom I've seen and enjoyed in their various TV shows. The story is about a group of friends on a weekend retreat bonding after a traumatic event and it's mostly just conversations and mundane character interactions, usually involving drinking and drugs.

Some of it was absolutely hilarious and some of it was very emotional, yet it all felt very real. It's not a mind blowing or deep film but it's brisk, fun and well acted. A great low key adult comedy! Definitely recommended.

Movie director Jeff Baena committed suicide earlier this month, so I decided to watch one of his movies in his memory. I'd never seen 2016's "Joshy", so I rented that. While there's nothing particularly special about the movie, it's still a decent look at some friends getting together for their planned bachelor party after the main character's fiancée commits suicide. These guys just do what they can to have fun, including some bro stuff.

I guess that it seems like the sort of movie that they just made for fun, but it's an enjoyable movie nonetheless. In addition to Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Nick Kroll, Alex Ross Perry and Brett Gelman, the cast includes Jenny Slate, Lauren Graham, Aubrey Plaza (whom Baena later married) and Alison Brie.

Baena later cast Aubrey Plaza and Alison Brie as nuns in "The Little Hours" (2017).

I'm not in the demographic that this film was intended for, so perhaps I'm not the best person to rate it. The premise revolves around its main character Joshy's (Thomas Middleditch) decision to still hold his pre- planned "bachelor party", even though his fiancé committed suicide some 4 months beforehand.

As Joshy's friends and acquaintances gather at a rented home in the country, I felt, as things progressed, that some of the dark and dry humor was quite effective, especially that of the dweebish Adam (Alex Ross Perry). However, more often than not the characters and plot machinations could get rather annoying and even "go off the rails" into areas that just didn't work, in my opinion.

To note, there's plenty of drug usage on screen, lots of raw language, explicit references, and one scene of nudity.

All in all, unfortunately I thought the negatives here outweighed the positives and thus only a fair rating.

I was unsure about this movie at first- seeing Nick Kroll in a more serious role made me nervous. I am so incredibly surprised. This movie is raw and emotional while having the appropriate amount of comic relief. I felt like I wanted to hang out with this group of people. Everyone has their stories. Everyone has their hardships. Who knows what the future will hold? I will definitely be seeking out more films by the writers. It's such a refreshing and real movie!