Adan Kundle (Bruce Greenwood) is a brilliant marketing executive with age-old tricks of the trade which have pushed him on to the road of success. After he passes out in front of TV's at the mall, he can only speak and communicate through ad-slogans. You know, like "have it your way," "you're now free to roman around the cabin," and "Maybe it's Maybelline?" He is taken in by his CEO Karen Hilldridge (Parker Posey), who is a single mother living with her bitchy, hormonal daughter. While Adan is on leave from his company, Karen is trying to assure it won't be taken over by a much-younger executive despite the current owner being unable to communicate coherently. She must find a way to keep the company under the control of Kundle and find a way to restore his stability.
I contemplated littering my review of Zack Bernbaum's And Now a Word from Our Sponsor with an abundance of ad-slogans myself, but I feel that would be smarmy and dishonest. It's a film that almost, just almost gets by solely on the likability of Bruce Greenwood as a screen presence. Even in his wacky, mentally-disjointed state he remains as friendly and innocuous as one could be. The soft, reminiscent smile he wears after reciting a slogan that was meant to be encouraging or a compliment is simply priceless and the entire character he builds off of one quirky-feature is heartwarming.
However, the issue I take with the character is how little we actually know about him. When the movie begins, he is already awake in the hospital, alert, active, and comfortable aside from difficulty communicating. Never do we get insight or experience from when Adan was a normal-talking executive who could hold a conversation and construct an empire. Because of this, we really don't know exactly what we are missing in terms of personality and character.
It's this and the fact that the film is, essentially, predicated off a one-note joke. The cuteness of the cleverly-placed witticisms involving the ad-slogans never wears off, but the comedic value does making the classification for And Now a Word from Our Sponsor more a "charmer" than a comedy. Nonetheless, there's subtle, recognizable talent dropped in here in terms of writing and focus. I can't imagine writer Michael Hamilton-Wright would say it was an easy challenge to pen lines of dialog for a character that has to bat off catchphrases on a subject germane to the one being discussed.
While the film goes on to become a bit too much of a muchness, it's still not as silly as it could've been or over-the-top and contrived. It flows slowly and delicately, careful not to belittle or offend. At a solid, serviceable eighty-seven minutes, it's better than your average commercial break.
Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Parker Posey, Callum Blue, Allie MacDonald, and Rhys Ward. Directed by: Zack Bernbaum.
