I adore Jake Johnson as a person, and I had been looking forward to this film for weeks. I enjoyed big chunks of it but overall felt dissonant. I have to say that the tone of this piece was not cohesive. If everyone had played their character like Jake had (curious, bewildered, and committed) it would have worked better.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Tommy's family is unpleasant and adds nothing to the story. His mom is a different person every scene, his married sister is caustic, and his younger (?) single sister only has one mode: mocking and sarcastic. Even when they arrange the intervention, they don't come across as caring... just tired of him. Even difficult characters need one or more redeeming quality(ies) for them to be believable.
Anna Kendrick played emotion well, but I felt super awkward watching scenes where she was supposed to be absurd. Too serious for the bit to land, for me.
I liked that the audience was always left guessing whether Tommy was actually in a competition or having hallucinations. But the ending was highly confusing to me... why did this game happen in the first place? Why was it so customized to Tommy if multiple people were playing the game? And why exactly were Wayne Brady and his dad flown out?
Maybe I would understand and appreciate Self-Reliance more the second time through. But as a one-shot it didn't settle right away. Still worth seeing.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Tommy's family is unpleasant and adds nothing to the story. His mom is a different person every scene, his married sister is caustic, and his younger (?) single sister only has one mode: mocking and sarcastic. Even when they arrange the intervention, they don't come across as caring... just tired of him. Even difficult characters need one or more redeeming quality(ies) for them to be believable.
Anna Kendrick played emotion well, but I felt super awkward watching scenes where she was supposed to be absurd. Too serious for the bit to land, for me.
I liked that the audience was always left guessing whether Tommy was actually in a competition or having hallucinations. But the ending was highly confusing to me... why did this game happen in the first place? Why was it so customized to Tommy if multiple people were playing the game? And why exactly were Wayne Brady and his dad flown out?
Maybe I would understand and appreciate Self-Reliance more the second time through. But as a one-shot it didn't settle right away. Still worth seeing.