The Jimmy Show

... 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" .

The biggest point of irony in Frank Whaley's The Jimmy Show is that, while the film concerns the ideas of a standup comic and his standup comedy routine, it is not funny or comedic in the least bit. In fact, it's one of the saddest films I've seen all year. It tells the story of Jimmy O'Brien (Whaley), who slogs at his redundant day job as a supermarket clerk, ripping the company off of its twenty-four packs of Pabst Blue Ribbon every single day and talking to his only friend, a stoner named Ray (Ethan Hawke). By night, Jimmy finds some sort of neurotic solace on stage at seamy comedy clubs, where he doesn't really tell jokes (well, attempts to but is met with not a single chuckle), but hold a therapeutic venting session for himself as the audience blankly stares or tunes him out. After watching him theoretically "bomb" a couple nights, we wonder why he keeps doing this. It isn't until we hear him tell Ray that he loves how people have to listen to him, whether they like it or not.

Right then and there, we get a sense of how lonely, desperate, and tired Jimmy really is. He's tired of not succeeding, job-hopping trying to find what he likes, but managing to find a way to screw it all up, whether it's stealing or simply not being cut out for the position. Jimmy lives with his wife Annie (Carla Gugino), whom he married right after he got her pregnant, and takes after his disabled grandmother, buying her her expensive medication and trying to make sure she sees another day. It doesn't take long for us to realize that Jimmy is sad and kind of a pathetic character, but even if some of his problems are brought-on himself and some of his actions aren't necessarily the right ones, especially if you're trying to build yourself a better life, it takes about fifteen minutes into the film before we start seriously feeling for the character and waiting for his break - like Jimmy himself is known to do.

Frank Whaley is tremendous as Jimmy, quiet, unassuming, but an incomparable knockout of a performer here, effectively conveying the many moods of his character through numerous different interactions with people or through his standup performances. Jimmy's standup performances are some of the most original things in the film, as they effortlessly structure and mold the character into a less-content and more quietly-disillusioned person than we could've ever imagined. His standup performances are occasionally interrupted by hecklers, to which Jimmy has no problem putting them on the spot in a unique and original way. Even though they may lead to him getting attacked on stage, at least he finds something resembling the power to defend himself spontaneously.

One of Jimmy's darkest insights is when, after Annie abruptly tells him she wants to part ways, he gets up on stage one evening and says, "One minute, you're falling in love over an ankle bracelet. And the next minute, you're dividing up the furniture. And in the middle of them two minutes, you make a baby, who's gotta learn it all by themselves." Piercing insight like that is what keeps the film afloat in a thematic sense, and blends fittingly with the film's great performances and slice-of-life focus.

The lengthy final scene in The Jimmy Show, set to a memorable and somber piano tune, makes for one of the most upsetting scenes in the film, regardless of how cliché it may seem. This is predominately because we see it happen in other films but, at the end of the day, there's still a chance for the main character. By then, we realize the character has not only run out of chances but has never really had one in the first place. "I've had a tough year," he says one night at a comedy club, but the audience, at this point, feels like heckling and saying, "you've had a tough life." For those who have a difficult time imagining what this film is like, imagine an episode of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm that isn't funny but deeply heartbreaking.

Starring: Frank Whaley, Carla Guigo, and Ethan Hawke. Directed by: Frank Whaley.

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.

what a depressing film this was! frank whaley stars as jim, a guy who finds himself narrating his his dwindling life saga to a near-empty room of strangers at each open mic night in a small town new jersey bar. he almost forces the crowd to listen to how each day seems as bad as the one before, with him getting fired from his job, his wife divorcing him, or having to care for his ill mother (although that doesn't seem to both him as much).

i have always enjoyed frank whaley in comedy (although he does almost none of that anymore) but this does not really qualify as comedy, no matter how dark or satirical. although, there is one scene in the movie where jim is working at swamie hots, an Indian fast food place, where you get a little comedic shine on an otherwise horribly depressing film.

I don't write a lot of reviews but this was one sad movie. It seemed like the redemption was right there, but Jimmy just didn't grasp the humor as much as he embraced the darkness. Maybe it was supposed to be a cautionary tale? Maybe it was a life lesson, wrapped up in a tragic story of a man who's life unfolds before his eyes as he yearns to find the humor in his tragic story? It may be worth your time, but it's not a comedy.