Maybe the director, Michael Traeger, may do something better in the future, who knows. The guy's previous writing credit was Dead Man on Campus, a sub-par MTV dorm-comedy, so that doesn't say a whole lot. He's not exactly, as a character is named in the film, "Some Idiot", but someone who knows how to put a strong cast together to try and elevate material. The problem is, he's made things so basic that there's not much room for much subtlety or real wit past the standards of the characterizations. It's like a sitcom with a bit more money and a bit more prestige, and somehow a lot of people (including star Jeff Bridges, who originally passed on the project) thought the film was a good idea AND didn't need more work script-wise.
Frankly, there's too much narration. One of the ironies is that Bridges' character Andy makes note of how in movies to "show, not tell." Cardinal rule, for sure, but the very writer/director at the helm doesn't even really follow it! It's one of the toughest aspects of a film to create worthwhile narration, but it doesn't help to go to an extreme and make it almost anything but. It's also a sign of lazy writing that he doesn't take the material where it really needs to go. This could be a razor sharp comedy, but too much of it, as with a sitcom, thinks it's funnier than it really is. For all the tiny moments of some comedy that do work out (mostly in part to some of the unexpected turns from the actors, like William Finley who has *never* been that funny in a movie before), it's overloaded.
The bottom line is the obvious writing and the direction, shot also TV-style with LOTS of extra light thrown on when not necessary, is completely reliant on the actors to do something with it. They do try, Lord, they do. How could you not with these people: Jeff Bridges, a true-blue talent who could read a computer manual brilliantly; Tim Blake Nelson, wonderful character actor from O Brother Where Art Thou; Joe Pantoliano, playing against type in good form; Ted Danson, where's he been lately aside from being somehow *terrific* in this; Patrick Fugit, who is the only one to actually underplay his part (albeit mostly in the background); Finley, as mentioned, maybe the best of the bunch. Others like Jeanne Tripplehorn, Isaiah Washington, the actress from Lenny (I forget her name), Lauren Graham. They all have something worthwhile for the production.
And at the end, for a comedy about making a porno in a small-town, it's mostly, kinda... bland. "Some Idiot", not really, just Some Whatever.
