2017, d. Jeff Baena (Joshy) - Netflix
I don't get it.
I don't get how writer/director Jeff Baena managed to get this cast together for a film this underwhelming. Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Kate Micucci, Dave Franco, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, Paul Reiser, Adam Pally, Lauren Weedman and more. This is a seriously stacked-full-of-comedic-talent film...so why is it so... lacking? But then again, I thought much the same about Baena's Joshy, so should I be that surprised?
Backdrop of this film is it's comprised of tales taken from the 14th Century story collection The Decameron by Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio, but unscripted and left to the gifted cast of performers to improvise their way through. As such it's a tale set largely in period-appropriate convent but with performers acting with very modern language and sensibilities.
The film finds the young nuns of the convent (Brie, Plaza, Micucci) feeling a bit of cabin fever with hormonal urges. An attractive young man (Franco), fleeing from his lord after having an adulterous affair with his wife, finds refuge at the convent, pretending to be a deaf-mute, where he attracts the eyes and urges of the nuns.
The film's attempt to play the farce are undercut by the improvised nature, and the improvised nature is undercut by the demands of the farce. There are definitely some laughs and bold performances (Micucci does some audacious, ridiculous and hysterical work in the nude in the third act), but I can't help but wonder if it needed a more assured directorial hand or a script with more of a foundation for the actors to riff off of.
Some of the editing and pacing is strange and seems to impact the comedic timing of certain scenes as well as any character or relationship development, which is a shame as there's a lot of good set-up in the mix (Shannon is particularly underutilized). It feels like this was done quickly and cheaply, that there wasn't time to hone any given scene comedically or visually. It's by no means unwatchable, but I want so much better out of this film than I got, and given the performers involved, there should be so much more amusement.
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