I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006)

Director:

Jeff Garlin

Writer (WGA):

Jeff Garlin (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Sometimes love is just a big bowl of wrong.

Plot:

About a man who has trouble with his job, trouble with women, and uses food to deal with it all.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Audition | Cheese | School | Second City

Cast

Jeff Garlin	...	James Aaron
Dan Castellaneta	...	Dick
Mina Kolb	...	Mrs. Aaron
Paul Mazursky	...	Charlie Perlman
Rose Abdoo	...	Car Dealership Receptionist
Tim Kazurinsky	...	Bill Bjango
Jessy Schram	...	Fake Daughter
Rebecca Sage Allen	...	Andrea Hope (as Rebecca Allen)
Henriette Mantel	...	Myra
David Pasquesi	...	Luca Giancarlo
Kate Merrill	...	French Woman
Cita Orendain	...	Philippino Woman
Joey Slotnick	...	Larry
Patti Vasquez	...	Hot Dog Lady
Josh Rosenblatt	...	Poncho Boy

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

3 Art Entertainment

Quotes:

Mrs. Aaron: You're not gonna wear that shirt, are you?
James Aaron: Don't you see that's not even a question?
Mrs. Aaron: That shirt makes you look fat.
James Aaron: That's because I am fat.
Mrs. Aaron: You're not fat!
James Aaron: If anything, I make the shirt look fat!

Movie Connections:

References Marty (1955)

Another case of misleading advertising

I enjoyed this film for the most part, but there are a lot of problematic things I'd like to point out.

First, let's say what's good about the film. It's clever, and the characters are well rounded and quite honestly, the main character is entertaining in his own awkward way. The love interest aspect of the movie actually ends up taking a backseat to this man's somewhat depressing life, but the film never stops being a little charming. The problem, though, is that it's been advertised as a romantic comedy. It's not.

Mostly it's a sitcom in the form of a full length feature. Anyone familiar with the formula of Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm will recognize the setup of many jokes and situations throughout the film (Jeff Garlin is a producer and character on CYE, so this shouldn't come as a surprise that they're very similar. Even down to the soundtrack.) My girlfriend and I picked this one up after seeing the trailer and thought it would be a funny romantic comedy. But, as I've already said, the relationship aspect to the film is only a side note. Sara Silverman's character gets maybe a total of fifteen minutes on screen, and is not anything like the trailer portrays. To make a long story short, my girlfriend fell asleep a long while before the movie ended, and I, while I thought it had it's funny moments and made a decent "indie" film about the life of a depressed overweight man, was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a stronger romantic aspect to it since that's what I was expecting. The movie in its entirety seems like Jeff Garlin's attempt to emulate the style and comedy of Curb Your Enthusiasm with a slightly more true-to-life tone. I could see this main character becoming a character in a sitcom, and part of me wonders if this wasn't some type of offshoot of a project that was originally intended to be a sitcom, or something that Garlin hoped would be well received enough for someone to give him his own show.

Six out of ten because of its charm and several funny moments, but seriously disappointed with the misleading advertising.