Writer-director Andrew Bujalski emerged last decade as a mainstay of the American “mumblecore” movement, his self-deprecatingly low-key comedies Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation establishing him as a sort of nerd Cassavetes. Results looks almost like a straight commercial proposition with star casting, in which an overweight dork (Kevin Corrigan) falls for his personal trainer. Guy Pearce plays the earnest, humourless proprietor of a gym where intense, over-motivated Kat (Cobie Smulders) is the star trainer. The film starts off gently lampooning motivational claptrap, then seems about to turn into a goofy mismatched romance as Kat and her wealthy but depressed client bond improbably. After that, it mutates into an almost pathologically relaxed dramedy of manners, like Eric Rohmer with rowing machines. Results doesn’t hold the attention consistently, but veteran indie stalwart Corrigan is likably cantankerous, Pearce is razor-sharp and much funnier than you might expect, and Smulders – usually seen on the big screen dispensing taciturn scowls as an Avengers auxiliary player – does a juicy line in driven neurosis. It’s clear that Bujalski doesn’t like people who try too hard, and his Results almost militantly refuses to – it’s anything but results-focused.
