44 The Comedy: Awesome Film

The Comedy

Now Streaming on Netflix

Almost everything ahead of its time is attacked by critics when it is released. 2012's The Comedy was no exception. It was a swiftly well-crafted production. Tim Heidecker's performance is super-high-caliber, particularly when you think about how few takes he probably had. Unfortunately because it is misunderstood, the reviews this film have received are unreasonably horrible. Let's just examine one of these petty reviews that unfairly tries to shit on Rick Alverson's film. The review up for review (LINK) was written by one Kevin Kelly. He apparently felt very frustrated, and misled by The Comedy. Kevin's review is especially ignorant. I will now shit on it.

To quote Kelly directly on "the filmmakers behind The Comedy":

(apparently he doesn't even know who that is) 

"…the only Comedy is the feeling that the filmmakers are laughing at you behind your back."

-They weren't. That's just your self-absorption acting up. This type of absorption is not like a Spongebob. It is more like a diaper that is never, ever changed.

   

"The entire movie feels like an inside joke, one that the audience is the butt of."

-I guarantee you Rick Alverson has no idea who you are and probably doesn't give a fuck what you thought of his film. If he did he'd probably be glad it made you feel like a joke.

Kelly also gives himself a "quota of 3 quotes" for his article. (?) Here they are.

1. The George Bush "Fooled me" comment. (overused and unfunny since at least 2006)

2. PT Barnum- "There's a sucker born every minute." (also unimaginative and overused)

3. Mark Twain- "Persons attempting to find motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." He goes on from there to say:

" While I'm not hoping that a bullet finds me for muddling through this movie and writing a review, it might have been sweet relief about halfway through watching it if I had been prosecuted."

Wait. What? You would rather be cited, sued or locked up than watch half a movie you're unable to understand? Even though you're getting paid to watch it? Was that just to accommodate your Twain quote? I am sure it was. I'm also sure that you were more concerned with trying to make yourself sound clever, than you ever were with creating an honest, artistic critique of a movie you just didn't get. It may have taken some months to get to you, but it's time to bite that bullet, Kev. Your prolapsed rectum of a review sucks more than any movie there is or ever will be. Remember what Mark says:

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt."  

If you saw it, and paid attention, this movie was not a comedy. At least, not as we knew them before it. This was an inventive psych/drama with comedy in it. Rick Alverson isn't just laughing at certain members of his audience, he's created a film that explores a perpetual detritus in its subject's anima as it seeps into his persona. Swanson's trip is almost the psychological equivalent of watching a reptile trying to emerge from its egg. We witness his tourism to the edge of sociopathy. Thankfully, without ever seeing him cross all the way over.

All the comedic improvisation in The Comedy is really funny. This is thanks especially to the performances of Tim, Eric, James Murphy, and Greg Turkington. The purpose of the overall film isn't really to amuse. More so, it aims to disturb. There is an air of menace fueled by a desparate emotional emptiness that seems to underscore the entire movie. The comedy provided by these ingenious improvisors ventilates this air just enough to breathe. Much like "There Will Be Blood", it is a unique character study, and a very dark one at that.    

In its lighter moments, The Comedy also delightfully skewers the shitty hipster society of the Bedford L crowd in NY. As a man who is loathe of almost all things Billyburg (except maybe SEA & Barcade), I especially enjoyed how these stabs were thrust. Especially the scene with Swanson & friends riding 10-speeds around with their token Pabst tall-boys. It's definitely not intended to flatter the shit-dipsters. It holds up a mirror to the face of a sad, empty, spoiled, honkyfied, self-important subculture made up primarily of privilaged, homogenous poseurs and pussies. Fantastically done.  

Unlike many of the reviewers who tried to shit all over The Comedy, I loved it and I am not paid to write this review. I am writing this in the interest of giving artistic credit where it is due. I will agree there are parts of this movie that are difficult to watch. (Most notably, Heidecker's drunk mangina in the opening scene.) Its best rewards are saved for the die-hard Tim and Eric fans in the form of some hilarious improv bits. The Comedy takes a shit on deserving cultural phenomena, and despite its disturbing undercurrent, is an excellent work of art. Eventually, it may be required viewing for all film students. Awesome Movie, Great Job!

-2013 Wielgorecki