The Comedian

Tom Shkolnik's 'The Comedian' is acutely an observed, well-acted but ultimately pointless film. A young man, hoping to make his way as a comic but otherwise without much purpose in life, drifts selfishly between relationships. Others are initially attracted to him but grow disenchanted by his inability to stake anything of his own on their interaction. This in turn upsets him, but it's unclear what he actually gets out of his own involvement beyond gratification to his own ego. There's a kind of tragedy here - the sense that this is not a bad person, per se, just someone who has no idea of how to be a good one - but there's no drama, just painful observation. Without anything to lose, the protagonist just isn't interesting for the viewer - indeed, he doesn't even appear to be very interesting to himself.

This is a fine simple story of a guy realizing his life has stalled in one spot and he cannot see the end of the tunnel. Ed hates his job for it is unfulfilling and he simply will not advance from his current status, he shares an apartment with a girl to which he has become emotionally attached but she is not attracted to him. He has ambition to be a stand up comedian but that appears to be at a dead end. He meets Nathan and the two are not really fully compatible as friends or lovers, and to top it off he feels as a misfit in his own family.

Writer/Director Tom Shkolnik has cleanly created a film showing us the man Ed and his internal emotional conflicts that take him on a troublesome course of self discovery, wanting, and disappointment. Ed basically hits bottom by the end of the film. And I believe that is what Ed had to do to begin again and find his way back up to a meaningful life.

Shkolnik smartly shows us at the ending of this story how through a simple conversation with the cab driver, someone Ed has never met before, how Ed realizes that everybody has problems in life and his are no different from somebody else's. These problems just happen to be his and you can see through the expression on his face that he's going to be alright.

This excellent mumblecore flick makes you feel his confusions, his emptiness, his longing for purpose!

The Comedian (2012) This movie could best be described as experimental and fitting into the Art House genre. As such it might not appeal to everybody. It was funded by the British Film Institute and filmed with an unusual production methodology: work-shopping the script from the cast's improvisations, insisting on only one take (with two cameras) per scene, and shooting only in actual London locations, using only naturally available lighting. Even the comedy gigs and acoustic music acts were performed in real London clubs before uninvited and undirected audiences. The actors all use their real first names as their characters' names. It seems the filmmaker was aiming for ultra-naturalistic performances in which London itself is as much the star as are any of the actors. Its maker described the film as a "wildlife documentary about human relations." Perhaps it's intending to be the ultimate in Cinema Verité. Hollywood it is most definitely NOT! Ed is an aspiring stand up comedian in his early thirties. While he is almost handsome, charming and witty, he is most definitely lost. Trying to make it on the London comedy club circuit, he spends his nights performing in small rooms above pubs and his days attempting to make ends meet by working in a call centre selling female-specific insurance against cancer. He lives with Elisa, a beautiful French singer in a non-sexual relationship, like brother and sister. Then, out of the blue, Ed meets Nathan a young artist who is blunt, honest and free. They immediately connect with each other and begin a passionate affair.

The central theme of the movie is the dynamic that emerges between Nathan and Ed when they meet on a bus after one of Ed's laughter-challenged comedy performances. "Who told you that you were funny?" Nathan mischievously asks Ed before inviting him back to his place. The depiction of these characters — two men, one white and one black, both of whom just happen to be gay, and for whom sexuality is just one component of their identities could resonate with audiences of all sexual persuasions.

I enjoyed the movie, though I don't see it getting a major theatrical release. My guess is that it will only get to be shown in Art House cinemas and on the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival circuit. I'd love to get proved wrong though! :)