★★★★☆
22 January 2020
A movie review of THE CLIMB. |
D: Michael Angelo Covino.
S: Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Judith Godrèche, Talia Balsam, Todd Barry, George Wendt.
“Switch gears. You need to peddle at a higher cadence,” Mike (Michael Angelo Covino)
Comedies. Most are just point and shoot. Arguably hardly cinema. As if a sitcom has been transposed to the big screen. Every so often style and laughs combine in a movie. THE CLIMB is one of those rare beasts. What a comedy! The camerawork is unbelievable. The scene orchestration is sublime.
Most so-called comedies if they happen to be funny, the plot is then formulaic. The rom-com. The bromance. Every so often something comes along that leaves little quarter to the tired. Think KLOWN [2010] from Denmark or BRAHMAN NAHMAN [2016] from India, spinning on the bachelor party and coming of age flicks respectively. Here, THE CLIMB does the same with the buddy flick. THE CLIMB avoids the rote narrative trajectory of camaraderie-schism-reunion, and opts instead for something colder and less mawkish.
S: Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Judith Godrèche, Talia Balsam, Todd Barry, George Wendt.
“Switch gears. You need to peddle at a higher cadence,” Mike (Michael Angelo Covino)
Comedies. Most are just point and shoot. Arguably hardly cinema. As if a sitcom has been transposed to the big screen. Every so often style and laughs combine in a movie. THE CLIMB is one of those rare beasts. What a comedy! The camerawork is unbelievable. The scene orchestration is sublime.
Most so-called comedies if they happen to be funny, the plot is then formulaic. The rom-com. The bromance. Every so often something comes along that leaves little quarter to the tired. Think KLOWN [2010] from Denmark or BRAHMAN NAHMAN [2016] from India, spinning on the bachelor party and coming of age flicks respectively. Here, THE CLIMB does the same with the buddy flick. THE CLIMB avoids the rote narrative trajectory of camaraderie-schism-reunion, and opts instead for something colder and less mawkish.
Chapter headings along with the visuals suggest ambitions toward art and not merely entertainment. For all the nifty, ornate player movement, there is a desire for character observation. THE CLIMB is a play made by someone who appears to love great cinema. Director, co-writer, co-star Michael Angelo Covino is a talent to watch, and has an able creative partner in co-writer, co-star Kyle Marvin.
Opening on two friends in France cycling, Mike and Kyle (played by Michael and Kyle). One is lonely and seemingly sociopathic, the other is a doormat people-pleaser. Our time with them is only 94 minutes (and feels too brief, that’s how much enjoyment is had in their company). Their bromance spans years. Evolving haircuts and facial hair help to delineate.
In a runtime of intentional cringe, the climax is an awkward nod to THE GRADUATE [1967], but instead of going down the easy meta path, pulls back. THE CLIMB is not concerned with catharsis for its tortured protagonists, or the audience. (Don’t worry, relief softens nihilism.) Unlike the usual trite character arcs, Mike and Kyle’s blissfully non-bombastic epiphanies feel earned and closer to life. Are our personalities not speedboats shifting quickly, but rather oil tankers taking an age to alter course? THE CLIMBS taps into low self-worth, and portrays it in a variety of manifestations.
Each scene is a virtuoso long take. Even one of those would have elevated a film experience, but a whole movie, that’s something a little bit special.