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The Comedy (film)

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The Comedy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRick Alverson
Written byRick Alverson
Robert Donne
Colm O'Leary
Produced byMike S. Ryan
Brent Kunkle
StarringTim Heidecker
Eric Wareheim
James Murphy
Gregg Turkington
Kate Lyn Sheil
Alexia Rasmussen
Jeff Jensen
CinematographyMark Schwartzbard
Edited byRick Alverson
Michael Taylor
Production
companies
Greyshack Films
Glass Eye Pix
Made Bed Productions
Distributed byTribeca Film (USA)Bread Harrity Children's Productions
Release date
  • January 21, 2012 (2012-01-21) (Sundance Film Festival)
VOD: Oct 24, 2012; Theatrical: Nov 9, 2012
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Comedy is a 2012 drama film directed and co-written by Rick Alverson, and starring Tim Heidecker. Supporting actors include Eric Wareheim (Tim and Eric), James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), and Gregg Turkington (better known as Neil Hamburger). The film was premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival [1] and screened within such festivals as Maryland Film Festival 2012. The film was distributed by Tribeca Film and was slated for theatrical release on November 9, 2012 and nationwide On Demand starting October 24, 2012.[2]

Despite the title and use of comedians as actors, Sundance festival chief programmer Trevor Groth says that the film is not a comedy, but instead "a provocation, a critique of a culture based at its core around irony and sarcasm and about ultimately how hollow that is."[3]

The first ten minutes of the film was purposely leaked onto various torrent websites with an anti-piracy statement at the end of the video. The resulting publicity made the actual film the most pirated independent film of the year.[citation needed]

Plot

Indifferent even to the prospects of inheriting his father’s estate, Swanson (Heidecker) whittles away his days with a group of aging Williamsburg hipsters, engaging in acts of recreational cruelty and pacified boredom. Desensitized and disenchanted, he strays into a series of reckless situations that may offer the promise of redemption or the threat of retribution.[4]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. It received an aggregate rating of 47% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews,[5] and 46% on Metacritic (indicating "mixed or average reviews").[6] For example, David Lewis of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the film was "one of the most self-indulgent, pretentious and unfunny movies of the year",[7] while Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club gave the film an "A−" rating, writing that "few films have better articulated the limits of irony as a force field against the world".[8] At the 2012 Philadelphia Film Festival, Heidecker was awarded the festival's "Best Actor" prize.

The film had a limited theatrical release, grossing $41,113 in four theaters over eight weeks.[9]

References

  1. ^ "2012 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Competition". Sundance Institute.
  2. ^ "Tim Heidecker Takes the Lead in Full Trailer for Indie 'The Comedy'".
  3. ^ "Sundance Film Festival 2012 lineup". CNN.
  4. ^ "The Comedy Accepted and In Competition at Sundance Film Festival".
  5. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_comedy/
  6. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-comedy
  7. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/The-Comedy-movie-review-Dreadful-4060090.php
  8. ^ http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-comedy,88484/
  9. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=comedy.htm
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