Hey, another film festival! Seems like the last one ended just a few nights ago!
So two full weeks of great independent films kicked off last night, and of course I was there at the Brava theater. A couple of pre-film drinks, and I was ready to settle in for FOLK HERO AND FUNNY GUY.
Jason Black (Wyatt Russell) is a semi-popular folk rock musician. He's successful, he's got his fans, but he's not at the upper crust of stardom. He's the Folk Hero. The Funny Guy is Paul (Alex Karpovsky) who is a much less successful comedian, paying his dues and trying to make a living so he doesn't have to go back to advertising. They're friends from childhood, and since Paul is in kind of a funk (after his fiancé dumped him) Jason decides that they should tour together, with Paul as his opening act. So friends, on the road, performing, reexamining their relationship, maybe getting into a little complications with a girl they meet and who joins them along the way (Bryn, played by Meredith Hagner.)
I really wanted to like this movie more. There are certainly very funny scenes (a cameo by David Cross is one highlight, the emotional breakdown near the end is another.) I laughed many times, and I could here everyone else in the audience laughing, too. But something was just missing. Pacing, energy, urgency maybe? And it ends just short of a breakthrough (or at least just short of a satisfying one.) And talking to friends afterward, I know I wasn't the only one who felt that.
I know this is a lousy, lousy review, because I can't say the movie was bad or even that I didn't enjoy it. Only that it felt like it fell short in some oddly undefinable way. Much like this review.
Running Time: 92 minutes
My Total Minutes: 416,021
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