It’s sometimes hard to recognize when we are living in a times of legends. Jason Schwartzman shouldn’t be compared to the current crop of funnymen that appear in film today, such as Jason Segel or Bill Hader or his The Overnight co-star Adam Scott. He should be ranked alongside true innovators like Bob Hope or Jack Benny, the type of performer who can draw a laugh before they even open their mouths. Whether as the lead in the HBO series Bored to Death or in a bit part in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, the dichotomy between his diminutive stature and his profound cockiness is, truly, a joke that never gets old.
But Patrick Brice’s film The Overnight really puts this theory to the test. There are indeed a few laughs in this 21st century Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice, but its meandering, seemingly ad-hoc script and repeated one note joke make for an unfulfilling experience.
Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling are new parents just moved to Los Angeles with no friends and not-the–most crackling sex life. (A first scene of awkward, we’ve-done-this-a-million-times lovemaking is very amusing.) At the playground their son offers gummy worms to another boy and soon his father (Schwartzman) introduces himself. This leads to a dinner party, where they meet Schwartzman’s wife (French actress Judith Godrèche). Things quickly get weird when the wealthy, vibrant couple put on a DVD of Godrèche advertising a lactation machine.
It takes quite a long while for Scott and Schilling to realise what’s so obvious to the audience – their hosts are interested in a kinky sex hookup, but it is going to take a lot of roundabout chatter before they get anywhere. Some of the jokes are mildly amusing, and scenes of full frontal male nudity always make unsophisticated moviegoers laugh. There is, unfortunately, zero connection to real life here, or any interesting character development. The film’s climax tries to graft some emotional catharsis, but it is too little too late. While I still think an evening spent quaffing wine and lounging by the pool with Jason Schwartzman would be a blast, I’d prefer if someone other than Patrick Brice were writing the script.
