The Long Dumb Road

A perfectly fine and totally watchable coming of age / buddy road romp / odd couple riff. Firmly a part of an era which has been / still is very unkind for comedy. Doing its best to not offend but still, somehow, against all odds, be edgy. The lead actors (Tony Revolori, Jason Mantzoukas) have great chemistry and are very good in this overall. That it feels like it's carrying the torch for a subgenre that cannot and maybe should not exist is not at all its fault. But it's impossible not to see the shortcomings as it works inside that structure.

By all rights, I should hate The Long Dumb Road. It has many elements in common with other movies that I have disliked. This type of road trip comedy with an annoying passenger is nothing new. However, this movie won me over because of 2 simple things. First and foremost, it starred Jason Mantzoukas, and I have a big soft spot for him. After years of listening to the How Did This Get Made podcast, I am in tune with his style of comedy, so every time he's telling a joke I laugh. Tony Revolori plays a relatable character that goes on this road trip with Mantzoukas, and I appreciated his performance as well, but it was the older Greek dude with all the hair that made this movie so enjoyable for me. I even forgave the excess of profanity and over-the-top sexual references because they came from someone I find naturally funny.

However, the more important thing that worked for me in The Long Dumb Road is the slow build to the wacky road trip adventures. Typically with a movie like this, the annoying person who comes along for a ride is overtly obnoxious from the first minute they climb into the car. It becomes so ridiculous that you feel like the sane person would be justified in abandoning the psycho or even calling the police after about 15 minutes. But here Mantzoukas's character is somewhat normal, and extremely friendly. They take time to build a bond between these two guys before taking everything too far. I could see how they became friends, and Revolori's reluctance to leave this nuisance behind feels justified. There are still plenty of elements in The Long Dumb Road that I didn't love, but it's a movie that did enough to entertain me and even make me think about watching it again someday.

I actually just created an account because I saw a lot of people talk about how they weren't a fan of the ending but I personally really enjoyed the ending because of the realism. Not everything is a happy ending in real life, not that it was an unhappy ending, but to me this seems like something that would actually happen. They didn't go the stereotypical route and in the end they Didn't become best friends and he gets the girl that he met on the road.... Everyone went their own way

For some reason left me with the same feeling as Hard Eight. Highly recommend. The two main actors are brilliant in it. Inevitable to become a cult hit.

Always been a fan of Jason Mandoukis and his style of quirky comedy ever since the league. I like his style of comedy and all the actors actually did a great job.

Ending could have been a bit better then I would have rated it higher but still a solid

6.7