The Comedy

I'm a big fan of Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job, and that is essentially why I wanted to see this, but this film is another animal. There's the humor that fans of Tim & Eric are used to scattered here and there throughout the film but I think it mainly works to compliment the mood of the entire piece. Be warned, this is not a regular film, if that's what you desire than that's just fine, see something else. The Comedy is that piece of art on the wall, when you see it for the first time, that makes you think of how you act and who you are and what you're doing. It's that thing that someone said to you that stuck in your head and brought up memories you'd forgotten about and lies that you've told yourself. But this is just how I felt, reviews are flawed because they can only tell you how that particular person felt about that particular thing. You may see it and just see one big, boring piece of crud. I'm not going to say that I think the movie was trying to say one thing or another because I believe any good art isn't clearly defined or pinned down. All I know is that it affected me. I really do hope more people see it because I believe we need something like this to level out everything else that's thrown at us. Give it a chance.

"The Comedy" is filmmaking at its most uncomfortable and disturbing. With its truly despicable characters, dark humor, and discomforting atmosphere, "The Comedy" is a film that has me physically cringing throughout.

The film is circles around an unlikable and practically lifeless hipster (played by comedian Tim Heidecker) and follows him around as he lives his boring, useless life. He hangs out with friends, goes to parties, goes into taxi cabs and basically tortures the drivers (not literally, but figuratively), and visits his father in the hospital.

Whenever he does anything, he does it pretty obnoxiously. The movie is just him being a truly despicable person for 90 minutes, and it is really fascinating.

At times, it's really hilarious (in a twisted way), and at others it's just downright disturbing and unsettling. Watch it at your own risk!

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

Outside melancholia I don't see be using many 5 dollar words to describe The Comedy. Born from the depths of a generation sans responsibility The Comedy is a sad portrayal of those privileged yet initiated in the world today. Essentially the hollow existence of a rich man (by way of proxy) is exposed as a numbing unnerving process in which a sad person seeks to feel alive through a series of ironic and annoying events that can only be described as "real life trolling". The acting is subtle and upsetting as you watch the life of a 4 grown men whittled away seemingly at their own discretion and it becomes even more upsetting when you realize these men do these things on their spare time as well leaving you wondering if the main character, wonderfully played by Tim Heidecker is searching for a deeper meaning in all this non-sense or simply killing time in between breathing.

The most striking and obvious theme of the movie is hit dead on, as no matter how much "fun" the characters are portrayed as having a deep seeded loneliness constantly lingers on the screen. Even as Heidecker's character forms relationship or merely interacts with a stranger you can feel the unhappiness he extrudes.

One thing about The Comedy that is for sure, is that while it may make you chuckle and even get a gut laugh is far from a comedy. No, The Comedy is ironic portrait of how ironic it is that a life fueled by irony is without a doubt sincerely unfulfilled.

If you are looking for the laugh riot of the year I suggest you pass on The Comedy. If you are looking for a serious film on flippant lives it might be the best of 2012.

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.