LOUSY CARTER (2023)

 

Written & Directed By: Bob Byington 

Cinematography: Carmen Hilbert and Lauren Pruitt 

Editor: Kristie Boustedt 

Cast: David Krumholtz, Martin Starr, Luxy Banner, Olivia Thrilby, Jocelyn DeBoer, Stephen Root, Macon Blair, Andrew Bujalski 

Man-baby Lousy Carter struggles to complete his animated Nabokov adaptation, teaches a graduate seminar on The Great Gatsby, and sleeps with his best friend's wife. He has six months to live.

Watching this film is kind of like reading a novella. It’s not quite 90 minutes well short of it but over an hour and is more of a character piece with a lead character who sets up most of the film entertainment as he seems to be a very morose and depressed guy, surrounded by characters who are supposed to be friends, family, and colleagues who don’t seem to really like him, but keep him around as they think they are better than him or to make themselves look better in some kind of light

Did I mention this is supposed to be a comedy, to tell the truth, if it wasn’t for the actors being so likable in their rules and this undercurrent of dead comedy throughout the film really wouldn’t work.

Though it has a charm to it, it is ultimately a tragedy of comedic proportions as the lead can’t seem to ever catch a break through his own stubbornness at times and he is dealt.

Even his ex-girlfriend doesn’t seem to be fond of them, nor the woman he is sleeping with even his student who seems to find a fascination in him as much as he finds a fascination in her there more to make herself feel better with his bad luck.

This is for the viewer who likes their comedy warped and sad but funny enough to keep from being down in the dumps and far from tragedy. 

Veteran character actor David Krumholtz in the rare leading role totally sells his character and the film and is what makes this film so watchable. As it tries to take a stab at the intellectual college crowd, though offers a bleak outlook that is more humorous than depressing, which is what makes the film stable and keeps the audience engaged.

The film even offers a joke at the end for the audience and on the audience. 

Grade: B