The Comedy

You see them all the time, young adult hipsters doing nothing productive; sitting around drinking fancy coffees, sharing big ideas but taking no actions. So what happens when these ambition-less, wandering people are forced to grow up and confront actual problems, the actual day to day existence that they have always disparaged and looked down upon. This film follows Tim Heidecker's character as he juggles with his haze-ridden, alcohol-filled youth and the oppressive responsibility that looms over him as he just tries to continue his youthful fun at the expense of others. A film about not wanting to grow up but finding out there's a time when adult-hood just takes you and as much as you wish and hope and fight to maintain your existence, you find it disappearing underneath your canvas shoes. A compulsive jokester/liar using his version of truth to have things done his way. A man unable to be serious in a world that values your mask more than yourself but when you can't turn it off, you drive away the people closest to you because even you prefer knowing the impersonal version of self. A child at heart who doesn't have the answers and may never have the answers to a problem that's so hard for many of us. Life.

Suffice to say, "The Comedy" is not a comedy (even though it does contain laughs) nor is it necessarily about comedians. Spearheaded by a shockingly inspired performance from Tim Heidecker, what Rick Alverson's quietly brilliant film is, is in fact about pointlessness, indifference and mocking sincerity. Sounds riveting right? Well, it is…in a very experimental way. "The Comedy" is deep and poignant and fascinatingly layered with subtle jabs at society, as well as those who have so much in life, that they have become bored with everyday existence.

Opening with a sequence involving male nudity that is so awkward it may cause some viewers to say to themselves "what did I get myself into?", "The Comedy" follows a man named Swanson (Heidecker) who is seemingly unfazed by his father's impending death. Instead of a real job, he spends his days hanging out with his buddies, engrossed in inane verbal and physical (and sometimes sociopathic) games of one-upmanship. From impersonating store clerks and gardeners, to making the most inappropriate jokes during the most depressing and even life threatening moments, to degrading others in public in order to fulfill some kind of personal enjoyment, as this film progresses the activities of each of these men (including Swanson) become progressively offensive in order to maintain a sort of continuous high. And while this could be the plot to any crude Danny McBride piece of trash, it is Alverson's ultra serious tone, along with the fact that he throws these would be offensive but clownish comedic characters into a real world where people die, have disorders and are struggling to feed their families, which allows "The Comedy" to rise above the "crudeness for the sake of being crude" films of today.

As much as I enjoyed "The Comedy", this is one movie that will assuredly come under heavy scrutiny from a majority (that's right, I said majority) of movie going audiences, because, for one, while there is a subtle story arc here, this film is not pushed along by heavy conflict. And secondly, many unfamiliar with Heidecker's form of comedy will undoubtedly be turned off by the amount of absurdist drama which is played out by a group, whom on the surface seem too spoiled and flippant to care about. In short, even those who loved the terribly long "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie" or are fans of their show and have been eagerly awaiting more of the same skit driven comedy, may find "The Comedy" a bit too tonally heavy or obscure to take (and that is truly saying something).

Side Note: Some have said that the Tim Hiedecker's style of comedy is a form of avant-garde comedy or apart of the anti-comedy movement. Meaning, that much of his shtick consists of making his audiences (television or otherwise) highly uncomfortable, to the point where they either laugh at his awkwardness or dismiss his actions as strange. And while Hiedecker's awkward style of comedy is featured prominently here, his performance is anything but comedic. In fact, he gives a quite emotionally dramatic performance in a movie that, if it were a straight forward comedy, would have seen Zach Galifianakis in the starring role. Thankfully, this is not the case because Hiedecker's performance is absolutely magnificent (and dare I say award worthy?) in this role that was obviously tailored specifically for him.

Final Thought: I will reiterate, and I can't say this enough, how "The Comedy" is not for everybody; especially if you are expecting a comedy. To some audiences this is all going to seem as an exercise in pathetic nature and nonsensical mannerisms, but rest assured that there is something happening here on a very highly conceptual level that is not only meant to make viewers uncomfortable, and cringe and laugh at the most inappropriate things, as well as think these characters are pathetic while at the same time feel sorry for them, but is also a subtly laced work of a very skilled writer, whose entire point seems to be an analysis/criticism of the reaction of "normal people" to those who wish to push the limits of comedy. Not since Lars von Trier's "The Idiots" have I witnessed a movie that was this skillfully successful in demonstrating the complex struggles of a generation built on a doctrine of nihilistic irreverence. In short, if you chose to see "The Comedy", you will either absolutely love it or absolutely hate it.

Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland

In all honesty I hate this film. I hate the characters. I hate the story. I hate the dialogue, the costumes...everything. I hate the fact they wasted great music and overlayed it in various scenes that showed the pointless and hollow lives of the privileged hipsters. There is absolutely nothing here, for no one learns any lessons, no one evolves, no one seeks redemption for bad actions and no one really strives to be a better and interesting person. This is why it is such a brutally brilliant film.

There is nothing like this film, and it's amazing that it is fronted primarily by two guys who did weird postmodern TV shows on Cartoon Network and a indie singer who did not become "famous" until he and his band retired (of course they made an eventual comeback, for people actually wanted to hear LCD Soundsystem for some reason). The story on the surface seems like a stunning indictment on trust fund hipsters, but it ultimately is a deconstruction of what happens to people when they lack ambition, desire and heart due to the mundanity of their comforting and unsatisfied lives.

Eric Heidecker is Swanson, an overbearing hipster who is on the verge of inheriting his dying father's fortune. While he grapples with the situation, it is clear he has no clue what to do with his life. He provokes and taunts people to ferry reactions out of them, with one might surmising he is doing it in hopes of getting seriously injured or even killed. Anything to feel something beyond apathy. At least that is what it seems like when he enters the African American bar and openly talks about gentrifying the neighborhood and insulting the other patrons. Of course, it could be ignorance considering Swanson might believe that since he likes hip-hop music and other forms of minority culture, that he somehow has the right to speak in such generalities. Trust me, I wanted the men at the bar to pummel him but then again, it would have been dishonest.

I think this is what makes this film so unsettling. While we hope Swanson and his friends eventually grow up and continue their life journey, they just continue to be awful human beings. Before the social media world gave such bad behavior a monetary feed, being this type of person was unexpected. Now it has sadly grown into a norm.

Like I said before, I hated Swanson and ultimately wished he had an end like Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant, but that would not have been a sincere outcome. You can't feel any sympathy for the characters and this is what is so provocative about this film. Considering Heidecker's career this is a wild subversion on his filmography, and it seemed perfectly tailored for someone like him. It will be years before I want to see this again, but damn this is provocative.

People say the characters are hard to relate to and be empathetic towards which is completely wrong. If you hate the characters you are empathizing with them because they obviously hate themselves even more than you. With that being said it was very hard to watch some scenes and they dragged on too long, but the feeling of pointlessness in life that so many in this generation feel (including me) makes it understandable why the movie is the way it is. The repetitiveness, hopelessness, and boredom of modern life depicted through a 90 minute movie. All of us are looking for happiness but very few actually find it.

This movie is quite possibly the best example of ultra-dry humour ever. Every serious person in this movie is you, or specially, anyone watching it and trying placing meaning or context. There is so much forth-wall stuff here - When Tim/Swanson is giving a scathing monologue, he's trying to make you laugh at the sheer facetiousness of the scene. The bit with him playing with the girls eyelid is especially funny - the actress is waiting for him to say his line. The joke is she' doesn't know Tim is messing with her.

The movie is trolling you with it's seriousness, it makes some actual poignant statements but there's no vast message being made here. Even the end of the film, which makes a beautiful point about the importance of relationships over the vast heartless intellectualism and cynicism of nihilistic "hipsters", only actually serves to make you think there's some moral statement, when actually all this is is classic Tim and Eric humour taken to it's art house-y extreme. It's a meta- comedy of anti-comedy. If you're not laughing, you lose!