The Civil Dead

Saw this at Florida Film Fest. If you ever get the feeling that many modern movies can be formulaic and uninspired - watch this. Your faith will be renewed.

Also the two main characters (who also wrote it) are funny as hell.

This movie was such a breath of fresh air, not just to the comedy genre but to the entire industry as well. What I liked the most about this film was that the director was generous in showing the entire experience of the characters. The production's 70's vibe and feel complemented really well with the theme. One cannot help but admire the friendship that the two characters. It seemed at the beginning that these two would be inseparable towards the end, until an unexpected twist took place. And the attitude of one of the characters served as clue to the occurrence of the said twist. It was entertaining and funny. A must-see for everyone.

When his wife goes away for a weekend, "Clay" (Clay Tatum) is quite happy just dragging the mattress in front of the television and beering out! He's a photographer by trade and wandering around the city he encounters "Whit" (Whitmer Thomas) whom he knew years earlier. Their's is an uneasy friendship, but he is polite enough and the two spend a day together that concludes in the most unlikely of revelations! It appears that "Whit" isn't quite what he seems! Of course scepticism abounds, but a conversation with his neighbour confirms the worst - nobody else can see "Whit"! What now ensues are a fun series of increasingly exasperating escapades as the former man finds his new gadfly pal persistently more and more annoying and demanding whilst he just wants to get on with his life - especially when his wife returns! Perhaps a few days in a remote mountain cabin for the two men might provide a solution? Although it's really dialogue heavy and the scenarios do repeat themselves a few times, this is still an entertaining film with plenty of quirkiness and two engaging performances from the lead characters who try to avoid the obvious "Scooby-Do" style stereotype spooks. The end of the film rather entertainingly explains the beginning, too. No, you'll never remember it afterwards, but it's quite an enjoyable tale of the geek and his beast.

An exciting spin on undead beings, as it delineates the hardships of a deceased individual and, at the same time, the gradually unfolding events correlate to a living person and that propagates an unusual brotherhood that prospers amidst some unlikeliest circumstances.

This was nothing too profound, though the story did attempt to touch upon some deeper stuff and tried its best to turn it into something that may culminate in introspection, but it couldn't.

To me, it felt more like a comfort feature, movies you tune in with no preconceived expectations at all, you seek to take pleasure in the ride, and in that case, it would suffice, I reckon.

P. S. I wouldn't say I liked the ending, though. It was so cruel!

As I sat down to watch the 2023 comedy "The Civil Dead", I had never actually heard about it. I happened to stumble upon the movie by random luck, and thus, I opted to sit down and watch it.

However, writers Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas didn't exactly churn out some of the greatest material here. Sure, "The Civil Dead" was watchable, but it was a rather monotonous viewing experience. And for a movie, then the script was rather devoid of funny contents. And that made it even more of a drag to sit through, truth be told.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but usually a movie that stars the same people whom writers and directs the movie isn't a particularly good sign.

Sure, "The Civil Dead" was a fair attempt at making a movie, however, writers Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas just failed to entertain me with what they concocted here.

This is not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time, nor is it a movie that I will recommend for comedy fans to rush out and get to watch.

My rating of "The Civil Dead" lands on a three out of ten stars.