The Jimmy Show

I think "depressing" is definitely the best word for this movie. After seeing it once, I was not only saddened, but downright angry that anyone would make a movie that made me feel this way.

After masochistically making myself see it again, I grew to appreciate it somewhat more. The fact is, the movie does what it does very well; unfortunately, what it does is show us the story of a man whose life just outright sucks. He's a terrible comedian who can't say anything funny, he's a slightly alcoholic husband who can't support his family, and he's a lousy worker in a lousy job who can't make ends meet. The only person Jimmy sticks by is his grandmother, who ironically is the source of many of the disasters in his life.

In summary, I have to say it's a well made movie, but if you watch it, be prepared to be uncomfortable with life for a while.

... Must admit well acted, but "dark" & depressing film portraying a wannabe stand-up "comic" .... with no clue toward humour. Viewed this film at The Stony Brook Film Festival. One of a "book-end" weekend topping off another Frank Whaley vehicle ... "The Pursuit of Happiness". Frank (and his brother Robert, as his Tops boss Mr. Slocum) & his buddy Ethan Hawke stand out in this film as hopeless "common men" ... stuck in a rut of Life's problems and of no seeing any chance of rising above it. Frank (Jimmy O'Brien) sees a calling as a stand up comic, but a mix of stage fright and overwhelming domestic problems, put him in a trance, undermining a "true" escape from his downward spiraling Life. See it for the acting (which is top notch), but as with earlier comments, if U need a feel good and less tragic movie see Frank Whaley in "The Pursuit of Happiness" .

Starring, written and directed by Frank Whaley, "The Jimmy Show" (with two other significant actors - Carla Gugino and Ethan Hawke) is a story of a wannabee stand up comedian. He has his dreams, and like most dreams, real life gets in the way. Still, Jimmy doesn't give up his desire to be a funny man standing on a spotlit stage in front of appreciative people. What is he willing to trade away for his dream? Does he understand what making a dream materialize entails? Will others support him? Let me put it this way: I GUARANTEE that you will feel better about your life, by watching "The Jimmy Show". This is an extremely focused, linear, painful story about an awkward, rationalizing, self-defeating man who threatens to pull everyone nearby under with him. There's not a single laugh in this story of comedian dreamer. Frank Whaley carries the story on his shoulders, and does a fantastic job. Gugino is also strong. Hawke does what he does well.

This is a well-done man vs. himself movie, with a downward spiral that is more moderated and even than most of those sorts of stories. This isn't a party people, drug-addled downward spiral, or a thug life, violence-addled downward spiral -- it's just a normal life, unfortunate circumstances, rut-addled downward spiral.

I liked the comedy routine gimmick most of the time, and it provided an off-beat break from the otherwise bleak and mostly mundane storyline -- that being the life of Jimmy, who has become trapped in a sour, unfulfilled plane of his own existence, partly due to circumstance and partly due to a poisoned outlook on life.

Those who have said "don't watch this for a pick-me-up" are absolutely correct -- this is a painful movie that is likely to leave you with a grimace, or at least a furrowed brow. It's a sad but not unrealistic testament to the kind of unsatisfying, confounded lives that are lived by plenty of people every day. Lonely, uncomfortable with the results of one's life, yearning for something more but chained down by the shackles of life (imagined or real, or both).

Another reviewer here asked what value there is to be had from this movie. The answer is that it serves as a reminder of lives that have neither a happy ending, nor an over-done, trite, or bizarre bad ending. It's the photo negative of "Falling Down", in a way, where the Michael Douglas character doesn't clench his jaw and go on a beeline ass-kicking spree across town -- he just clenches his jaw and keeps trudging along as dark turns to black. (And does an equally-grim stand-up comedy act, which gets better as it goes along, without ever getting funny.)

It definitely deserves a better rating than the 4.4 it has now. I gave it a 7. There's nothing wrong with it aside from the fact that it portrays a pretty ordinary, unfortunate life story. It does that well, and the comedy routine thing is a nice quirk.

I saw"The Jimmy Show" at a screening at the American Film Market 2002 last week and, while it contains home truths about life in suburban America, I found it heavy going. The producers call it a bitter-sweet love story but to me it was more bitter than sweet. Its big problem lies in its lack of an underlying vein of hope and optimism so often necessary in a story of this genre.

Jimmy O'Brien describes himself as "young, fresh and angry" but is in reality a born loser with sticky fingers. Holding down a supermarket dead end job by the skin of his teeth, he has aspirations as a standup comedian. Every Tuesday on open-mike night at The Laughing Stock comedy club, he dies on stage at the hands of a tough, no-smiling audience but this is nothing compared with what is happening inside Jimmy. He is slowing strangling on his own lack of initiative, ambition and basic social graces. Thrown out of his market job for stealing cases of beer, he continues along a seemingly downward path without benefit of humorous relief.

Frank Whaley wrote the screenplay, directed, and plays the role of Jimmy, and when such vital chores are taken on by one man, I can't help thinking the movie has more than the usual biographical aspects and should more accurately have been called "The Frank Show". In supporting roles, Carla Cugino as his long-suffering wife and Ethan Hawke as his co-worker provide adequate performances.

Not recommended for those in search of a feel-good movie.