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Arts
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 — 5
‘Other People’ will
keep you chuckling
IFC FILMS
Pete Campbell wouldn’t wear flannel.
Indie rom-com
overcomes genre
conventions with
great jokes
By BEN ROSENSTOCK
Daily Arts Writer
Nowadays, practically every
romantic comedy is labeled
“predictable” or “formulaic.”
Movies
like
“Trainwreck,”
though,
have
conclusively
shown us that
predictability
isn’t necessar-
ily a bad thing
when it comes
to this genre. A
good old-fash-
ioned romance
story can be
pleasing in its familiarity, and
often
the
“unconventional”
ending is simply the wrong
ending for a given story. Writ-
er-director Leslye Headland’s
(“Bachelorette”) new rom-com,
“Sleeping with Other People,”
does fall back on some of the
same conventions of the genre,
but with some great jokes, a
great cast and a few surprising
touches, the movie succeeds at
overcoming those pitfalls.
Jason Sudeikis (“Saturday
Night Live”) and Alison Brie
(“Community”) star as Jake
and Lainey, two people who
lost their virginity to one other.
When Jake and Lainey run into
each other at a sex addiction
support group years later, they
ignore their mutual attraction,
and instead strike up a friend-
ship based on the idea that sex
ruins every relationship they
have been in.
It’s a pretty silly premise,
and it calls to mind the count-
less other rom-coms based on
characters trying and failing to
remain “just friends.” But the
movie is surprising in its hon-
esty. This isn’t building toward
a revelation when the charac-
ters will realize their insecu-
rities. From the beginning, it’s
clear that Jake is a womanizer
because he’s too afraid to actu-
ally make a lasting connec-
tion with anyone, and Lainey
is hung up on her engaged ex,
Matthew (Adam Scott, “Parks
and Recreation”). Neither of
these conflicts seem particu-
larly fresh, but it does feel fresh
how openly and honestly the
characters work through their
issues together. Jake and Lain-
ey discuss sex positions, female
ejaculation, penis size and mas-
turbation, and their candor is
both hilarious and refreshing.
Even if the beats of the story
are mostly typical, there are
little touches in the direction,
script and acting. After Lainey
has a surprisingly humiliating
sexual experience, she lies back
on the table and a ray of sunlight
filters into the room, lingering
for several seconds as she stews
in self-loathing. As Jake delivers
joke after hilarious joke, Lainey
giggles in the background. And
in one scene that will make you
fall for Alison Brie (if you some-
how haven’t already), Lainey
teaches a group of kids at a
birthday party how to dance.
At different points in the
movie, the predictability of
the ending shifts. As Jake and
Lainey’s sexual tension builds
and the two show clear signs
of falling in love, it seems obvi-
ous that they’ll end up together.
But as Headland cultivates her
trope-subverting style with her
naturalistic direction and well-
written honesty, the possibil-
ity of an unconventional ending
becomes more real. At one point
about an hour into the movie,
the story reaches an unexpected
note of peace and acceptance,
with the characters content in
their platonic roles. In that one
quiet moment as Jake and Lainey
lie together and fall asleep, all
the conflict falls away and the
viewer gets the distinct feel-
ing that it doesn’t really matter
whether the characters do get
together.
Unfortunately,
the
movie
brings back the conflict in a
somewhat
unnecessary
third
act, shattering the sense of con-
tentment by again raising the
question of whether these char-
acters belong together. For many
viewers, Headland’s small sam-
ple of stylistic touches will be
enough to overcome the inher-
ent predictability of the genre.
But it’s hard not to wish the film
would be OK with stopping a
little earlier and leaving things a
little ambiguous. By the time the
movie does resolve the will-they-
won’t-they conflict, it feels a lit-
tle false. The answer just doesn’t
seem to matter as much as it did
earlier on.
“Sleeping with Other People”
doesn’t reinvent the romantic
comedy like it sometimes aspires
to, but that’s OK. With a support-
ing cast stacked with hilarious
comedic actors including Jason
Mantzoukas
(“The
League”),
Andrea Savage (“Step Brothers”)
and Natasha Lyonne (“Orange is
the New Black”), and a compel-
ling pair of leads in Sudeikis and
Brie, it succeeds in investing the
audience in its conflict. By the
time it ends, some of that invest-
ment has dwindled, but it’s still
an admirable entry into the rom-
com genre. When the laughs are
constantly rolling, it’s hard to
ask for much more.
B+
Sleeping
With Other
People
IFC Films
State Theatre
TV REVIEW
Not yet Trevor’s show
By ALEX INTNER
Daily Arts Writer
Reviewing late night shows right
after they premiere is a difficult
task because they, more than any
other
type
of
television,
take
time
to
grow
into their own.
Even the most
talented
hosts
have
early
bumps
in
the
road. It’s hard to
be too critical on
someone who’s
just
starting
and isn’t used
to this format
yet.
Despite
all this, there
were
moments
in the first week of the new “The
Daily Show” where Trevor Noah
looked actively uncomfortable. His
delivery was off, and some of his
work didn’t have the sharp wit that
landed him the prestigious position
of replacing Jon Stewart. However,
there were some bright spots in the
week. With time, Noah should be
able to take what worked, improve
what didn’t and spin the show
in a direction where he is more
comfortable.
The format of the new “The Daily
Show” remains the same: Noah tells
jokes at his desk, both on his own
and with the correspondents; there
are field pieces and an interview
in each episode’s third act. Of the
desk segments in the premiere
week, only a handful worked, with
the best ones occurring when
Noah let his own voice shine. For
example, Thursday’s show opener,
where Noah compared Trump to
an African dictator, showcased
Noah’s biting humor and his
global perspective (Noah grew
up in apartheid South Africa).
However, the entire week wasn’t
as impressive — a segment on racist
police by correspondents Jordan
Klepper and Roy Wood Jr. lingered
for about twice as long as it should
have.
Noah’s biggest weakness in the
first week of shows came during
the interviews, where he seemed
nervous asking questions and
couldn’t flesh out substance in the
conversations. This was prevalent
during his interview with New
Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
While Noah tried to guide the
conversation in a more serious
direction, he couldn’t negotiate
with Christie’s evasiveness. The
rest of the week’s interviews were
less substantive, with celebrities
and CEOs with whom Noah was
a bit more relaxed. The one new
benefit of Noah’s show is that
there will be more music on it,
something that was lacking during
Stewart’s
tenure.
Thursday’s
episode had Ryan Adams as a
musical guest; he played three
songs off his Taylor Swift cover
album 1989.
The
moment
most
representative of Noah’s timidity
in the chair was when he
addressed the community college
shooting in Oregon. He gave a
heartfelt statement, expressing
his condolences for the victims,
but he didn’t quite go as far as Jon
Stewart would have. If it weren’t
his first week, maybe he would
have given more of a commentary
or expressed more of his personal
views than he did. What’s nice
about the late night format is that
Noah will have several months
to find his voice and establish
himself in the host chair.
B
The Daily
Show with
Trevor
Noah
Series Pre-
miere
Mondays-Thurs-
days at 11 p.m.
Comedy Central
20TH CENTURY FOX
That Mars problem took two years to solve.
Innovative ‘Martian’
explores humanity
By MATT BARNAUSKAS
Daily Arts Writer
The
concept
of
space
is
terrifying.
It’s
a
place
completely hostile to human
life, a place
where we’re
not
meant
to
survive.
To go into
space,
in
several ways,
is to defy the
laws of the
universe.
Yet,
for
many, there’s
an
endless
allure to visiting the vastness
beyond our planet — the
challenge to push mankind’s
collective ingenuity, to test
the boundaries of possibility
and to achieve unmatched
greatness continues to drive
humanity
forward.
“The
Martian”
weaves
together
these
two
contrasting
human needs, to endure and
to explore, into a tale where
survival depends on doing the
unprecedented.
At the center is astronaut
Mark Watney (Matt Damon,
“Interstellar”). A botanist for
the Ares III mission on Mars,
Watney
is
presumed
dead
and abandoned by his fellow
crewmembers after a freak
storm forces an evacuation.
Alone, Watney must live on a
foreign world where even the
smallest mistake can lead to
his death.
Directed by Ridley Scott
(“Prometheus”), who makes
one of his best efforts in years,
“The Martian” bears resem-
blance to Ron Howard’s “Apol-
lo 13.” In this similarity lies
one of “The Martian” ’s biggest
challenges: while the crisis of
“Apollo 13” took place over a
roughly six-day period, “The
Martian” has the task of tell-
ing a narrative that extends
over 500 days. To maintain
the life-or-death tension over
such a prolonged period of
time, screenwriter Drew God-
dard (“Cabin in the Woods”)
splits the story into two parts,
emphasizing
two
distinct
questions — how Watney will
survive and how he will get
home.
The first question forms
the beginning of the movie as
Watney comes to grips with
his situation. The weight of
the movie is largely thrust
on Damon as the isolated
astronaut, and he’s more than
up to the task. With a measured
determination and smirking
gallows humor, Damon brings
lightness to Watney’s grim
task while delivering the stress
and doubt that crawl into the
man’s psyche as he faces such
insurmountable obstacles.
“The
Martian”
embraces
ingenuity as Watney uses his
limited resources to create a
small potato farm. To explain
Watney’s technical method,
Scott interweaves narration
and
image.
Using
video
journals,
Damon
narrates
his character’s progress as
he fertilizes his crops using
human
waste
and
creates
water by burning hydrazine.
This combination of voice and
action makes these scenes
fascinating,
comprehensible
and poignant.
While Watney’s situation
focuses on survival, the idea
of doing the extraordinary
works its way in. At one
point,
Watney
muses
that
everywhere
he
goes,
he’s
the first: to survive, he must
paradoxically take calculated
risks
while
stepping
into
the unknown, forcing these
combative instincts to work in
harmony.
As the film diverges from
its protagonist, this reality
becomes
more
apparent.
Watney’s crewmates and the
Earthbound NASA discover
his survival and try to find a
way to bring their man home.
These storylines require a
large ensemble cast, and Scott
fills it with big-name talent.
In lesser hands, these roles
could be boring exposition
dumps, but a distinct sense
of
humor
and
personality
are brought forth by most
of the performers. On the
NASA front, mission director
Vincent
Kapoor
(Chiwetel
Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”)
and NASA Director Teddy
Sanders (Jeff Daniels, “The
Newsroom”) are strong points
as men who have final say
and weigh every choice with
caution. However, there are
some
relatively
thankless
roles
like
Kristen
Wiig’s
(“Bridesmaids”) Mindy Park,
who sometimes operates as
little more than an audience
stand-in.
The same goes for Watney’s
astronaut companions. Jessica
Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”)
is given the most to work
with as guilt-ridden mission
commander Melissa Lewis.
While Michael Peña (“Ant-
Man”) as pilot Rick Martinez
develops a strong bond with
Damon, even when they can
only communicate through
typed messages. The rest of
the crew is good, but don’t have
as many opportunities. “The
Martian” never squanders its
cast, but doesn’t always utilize
its talent pool to full effect. At
one point, Watney disappears
to the background of the film
in
favor
of
concentrating
on these storylines. While
it’s interesting to see the
challenges of putting together
a rescue mission, the movie
loses track of its emotional
core for too long. A time jump
makes the transition back
to
its
protagonist
slightly
jarring.
However,
despite
these
small struggles in maintaining
focus, these interlocking sto-
rylines about rescuing Watney
emphasize the need to extend
beyond perceived limits as
nothing comes easy and inno-
vation is the only solution.
It’s in these accomplishments
of
human
resourcefulness
that “The Martian” reveals
why exploring the challeng-
ing reality of space is neces-
sary. In facing the impossible,
people can achieve more than
they imagined and humanity,
as a whole, is driven forward.
B+
The
Martian
20th Century
Fox
Rave & Quality 16
Great cast and a
few surprising
touches.
The film
weaves together
endurance and
exploration.
FILM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW