It’s rare that I wish a movie had more hijinks, but “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” (2018) is a lot of work. Most movies whose plots revolve around the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step model are. This one’s a grind. (Plus, Joaquin Phoenix has a unique ability to make ambivalent protagonists even less likeable than they should be.) But there are a couple of payoffs. One is watching the ongoing evolution of Jonah Hill as a character actor. The other is staring you in the face the whole movie and director Gus Van Sant neatly and satisfyingly resolves it.
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You watch “True Story” (2015) with the expectation that there’s going to be the typical true-crime plot twist, even though it’s so obvious that there isn’t going to be one. Instead, you get a character study of a disgraced journalist (Jonah Hill) and an accused murderer (James Franco) and the bizarre relationship that develops between them. Which is sort of like the bizarre relationship you have with the plot, wanting to believe in something that you know isn’t there. Because it makes for a better story? You went in wanting to understand a killer. You ended up understanding the writer.
The best thing about “The 40 Year Old Virgin” (2005) is it has that new-movie smell. You know what I mean. The concept is funny and all, but this was right at the beginning of the whole Judd Apatow Bromantic Comedy Era. It was Steve Carell’s first starring role. We hadn’t gotten tired of co-star Seth Rogen saying “fuck!” and doing bong hits every five seconds. The supporting cast is amazingly deep (Paul Rudd, Catherine Keener, Jane Lynch, Kat Dennings, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, etc.). And the dialogue is as sharp as a rock band on its first hit album.
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