By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Starring: Dale Dickey | Dean Stockwell | Denis O'Hare | Jonathan Groff | Troian Bellisario
Country: united_states
Year: 2013
Running time: 88
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650393/combined
Chris says: “I’ve waited years for someone to make a film out of one of David Sedaris’ autobiographical essays, knowing that any attempt could go either way (see Ryan Murphy’s meh version of Augusten Burroughs’ RUNNING WITH SCISSORS). Fortunately, this fairly straightforward take on Sedaris’ account of his time post-college meandering through rural Oregon works because it fully captures his distinct tone—a sincere, near-deadpan relaying of acerbic, absurd content. Jonathan Groff is well cast as the author’s stand-in—you can sense both the snark and the seeker at odds beneath his detached observer exterior. Even better is the support he gets from a cast full of great character actors, including Dale Dickey as a gruff factory co-worker who hilariously refuses to play into Groff’s feigned eagerness, Corey Stoll as a friendly (and just a tad creepy) foreman and especially Denis O’Hare as a born-again Christian clockmaker who ends up pointing out the hypocrisy of Groff’s actions while inadvertently betraying more than a few of his own. The ending doesn’t work as well here as it does in original essay, coming off as far more abrupt, but overall this is good enough that I encourage Groff and director Kyle Patrick Alvarez to adapt more of Sedaris’ material. 4.5 cats”