The Comedy

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source: The Comedy

To have Heidecker be a "victim" of his own comedic stylings is genius. This movie has stuck with me for days, reason being the character is so surprisingly believable. SPOILER, this is not a comedy, but rather a very adept insight into what happens when a dissolutioned character adopts "blasphemous" comedy in every moment and is indifferent to it's hits and misses. There are a few good laughs, and it is particularly engaging if you have a fondness for indoctrinated Williamsburg kids who live on boats. Amazing Direction and Cinematography. The entire cast gives true humble performances, and Kate Lyn Sheil delivers a heart stopping scene. i believe in this film.

The Comedy isn't funny. It isn't meant to be funny. The Comedy is actually a little disturbing, and I have been somewhat haunted by it since seeing it last week. I don't think the Comedy is just an indictment on "hipsters" as a lot of critics have said, but more broadly directed at any people with tendencies toward cynicism, sarcasm and despair.... and heavy drinking. I could relate to a certain degree, and I've been a little more self-aware of these things since seeing the film. I did not enjoy watching The Comedy, but I do (highly) recommend it. *As a side note, to address the misogyny remarks I've seen around the web: The only way this movie could possibly be perceived as misogynistic (or offensive in any way) is if the viewer makes the mistake of thinking they're supposed to like these characters. They are clearly meant to be loathed by us.

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.

35 year-old hipster Tim Heidecker faces his father's impending death with the same attitude he faces the rest of his life: with ironic detachment. Heidecker, along with his buddies (who include Heidecker's comic partner Eric Wareheim as well as LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy) spend their days sitting around cracking jokes, getting wasted on PBR and screwing around with other people they meet. They are, to be short, completely insufferable and most people will want to slap them in mere seconds. I think, though, that this is a good snapshot of the times, and it's surprisingly poignant (the maudlin score perhaps underlines that too much). Heidecker gives a fantastic performance, doing a lot of acting with his face. It can be funny, but it's not really a comedy, per se. "The Comedy" in Heidecker's mind is life itself, and, frankly, that's just no way to go through life.

I normally like awkwardness, but this one took it over the top. The plot was so loose. I was waiting for it to progress into something watchable let alone something funny. Midway through the movie I looked it up and realized that the actors were in fact familiar and were in fact Tim and Eric. Which wouldn't normally explain much but laughter. But in this case it meant I couldn't understand the humor because it was more odd that funny. Which is usually the case for Tim and Eric. Sweet berry wine was funny but super weird, because of Tim and Eric. Ie: The Teri's Which was hilarious but also superiorly awkward, unwatchable for most, but if you've ever seen Gummo than you've seen some really uncomfortable stuff and if you liked it than you might love this.

I rented this on recommendation of a friend. I'm glad I did, because I was pleasantly surprised because this is easily one of my favorite films to come out this year. The Comedy has a few expectations of its viewers, and meeting these are in some ways essential to fully enjoying the film. The pretentiousness of the protagonist and his friends (the overuse of irony in any and all interactions with other people, the clothing that they choose to wear) could be seen as satirical, but it takes it beyond just "making fun of hipsters." The film paints a vivid and terrifying picture of white (and male) privilege, and some people's fascination with lower class cultures and others of different ethnicities. If the viewer can at least admit to being able to relate to Swanson and his friends, however terrible they may seem, he or she can learn a lot from watching the film. I think people being disgusted and upset by this film has more to do with how they relate to the protagonist then the actual content of the film, because other than the crassness of the film it is objectively good. It's artfully shot, extremely well acted and the sparing use of music does an amazing job of setting the mood.

An uncomfortable mix of anti-PC bullying, laconic social critique and Cassavettes-style realism, Rick Alverson's The Comedy is a challenging movie. An experience of endurance, rather than entertainment, it's basically Jackass with a brain. A real puzzle. I wasn't sure whether I should walk out or give it a standing ovation. Either way, it's a painful ninety minutes. One half of the creative team behind Adult Swim's flatulent sketch show, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Heidecker's brutal depiction of Swanson encapsulates, and furthermore parodies, the exact audience from which he has become a cult demigod – the trust-funded, apathetic hipster. Instead of the garish surrealism of said TV series, The Comedy is rooted in documentary-like naturalism. Aimlessly wandering around his stomping ground of Williamsburg, New York, Swanson spends his days trying to find substance for life – picking up jobs as a dishwasher even though he's loaded, travelling across town via his cosy houseboat, heading into ghettoised bars so that he can rile up/bond with the local "brothers", and chatting to drunk women about how feudalism is great and Hitler misunderstood. Far from just testing the patience and credulity of the characters on screen, Alverson is reaching out to the audience watching The Comedy. Whether the embittered sentiment of the film is ironic, genuine or otherwise is dependent on your own tolerance level and engagement with this truly unsympathetic, crass character. Uncritically speaking, I found Heidecker's performance mesmerising, but the character unrelenting nasty. In partiocular, there's a bedroom scene late on in the movie which left me feeling abused and nauseous. A powerful reaction to cinema, but certainly not a welcome one! If you feel compelled to sit through this venomous, albeit fraught comedy, it would make for perfect double bill with the LCD Soundsystem documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits. Not only do both movies feature the humble DFA Records boss James Murphy, they both wryly depict the ennui and societal disconnect of an ageing American subculture. More reviews at www.366movies.com

This movie is quite possibly the best example of ultra-dry humour ever. Every serious person in this movie is you, or specially, anyone watching it and trying placing meaning or context. There is so much forth-wall stuff here - When Tim/Swanson is giving a scathing monologue, he's trying to make you laugh at the sheer facetiousness of the scene. The bit with him playing with the girls eyelid is especially funny - the actress is waiting for him to say his line. The joke is she' doesn't know Tim is messing with her. The movie is trolling you with it's seriousness, it makes some actual poignant statements but there's no vast message being made here. Even the end of the film, which makes a beautiful point about the importance of relationships over the vast heartless intellectualism and cynicism of nihilistic "hipsters", only actually serves to make you think there's some moral statement, when actually all this is is classic Tim and Eric humour taken to it's art house-y extreme. It's a meta- comedy of anti-comedy. If you're not laughing, you lose!