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How entertaining? ★★★☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★★☆☆ 20 June 2015
This a movie review of THE OVERNIGHT. |
“I’ve got everything I need under this roof,” Emily (Taylor Schilling)
When one of your main characters paints portraits of b*ttholes in his spare time, you figure subtlety has been taken off the table. However, THE OVERNIGHT uses frank sexual humour as a delivery system to explore anxiety among men. The two wives have self-concerns, but their neuroses are second place to the excruciatingly raw insecurities on display from Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and Alex (Adam Scott). It’s not sexism, but a rare attempt to dwell on what can worry the male of the species. Arguably, making proceedings funny permits the issues to be dwelt on more deeply. À la ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘The Office’, be prepared to watch through your fingers.
When one of your main characters paints portraits of b*ttholes in his spare time, you figure subtlety has been taken off the table. However, THE OVERNIGHT uses frank sexual humour as a delivery system to explore anxiety among men. The two wives have self-concerns, but their neuroses are second place to the excruciatingly raw insecurities on display from Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and Alex (Adam Scott). It’s not sexism, but a rare attempt to dwell on what can worry the male of the species. Arguably, making proceedings funny permits the issues to be dwelt on more deeply. À la ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘The Office’, be prepared to watch through your fingers.
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Alex, Emily (Taylor Schilling) and their young son, RJ (R.J. Harris), have moved from Seattle to Los Angeles because of Emily’s job. Alex is a stay-at-home dad. A role refreshingly all-but-briefly remarked upon, while the unspoken unusual domestic set-up begins the process of questioning conventional notions of masculinity.
Not even unboxed in their new home, an unsexy sex scene greets the audience immediately. Racing to climax before their son rushes into their bedroom, Alex tells his wife to tell him what a big d*ck he has (an issue not wrung out in the opening). Both quickly giving up on trying to get the other to the finish line, they side by side settle on self-pleasure. Capping off the embarrassing opening, RJ runs in, dressed as a superhero, and then childishly observes, “It smells weird.” If you aren’t laughing, face in hands, THE OVERNIGHT is probably not for you.
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Role-reversal has Emily go into work, even having promised not to, while Alex takes RJ to the park. Feeling maternal guilt (which is raised again), Emily joins her family. There they meet Kurt, who has honed in on their friendlessness and invites them to join him and his wife for dinner. Their sons already seem to be getting on well. Bar the coda, the majority of the runtime focuses on a dinner party that lasts 12 hours.
Kurt’s initial trilby wearing entrance, and announcement, “I’m sort of the mayor of this area,” has the alarms blaring: Not if he is weird, but how weird. Post wine anxiety conversation (you know the dilemma - whether the bottle brought is posh enough), our couple meet Kurt’s beautiful French wife, Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), who is a housewife/part-time masseuse/former actress. (Wait till you get to the DVD screening of one of her performances.) Kurt has the air of a show-off and/or a bullsh*tter, implying he is an architect/water filtration inventor/artist. The children going to sleep and the bong coming out is when the evening gets going. The continual thought: How agonizing is this movie going to get?
When done well, the comedy of awkwardness seldom gets tired, while also being exhausting.
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