The festival circuit has become the launching ground for a number of alternative (read: really friggin' weird) comedies, and at this past Sundance one that made a big impact was Entertainment. Starring Gregg Turkington, last seen in Marvel's Ant-Man (as the Baskin-Robbins manager) and as a key part of the silly On Cinema web series, the R-rated comedy is directed by Rick Alverson, who directed him and Tim Heidecker in the offbeat indie, The Comedy. With a script penned by Turkington and Heidecker, the trailer makes it clear this will be anything but your typical mainstream comedy.
Turkington stars as an aging, failed comedian touring the California desert and desperately looking for one last shot at fame while also trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Here's the synopsis:
A broken, aging comedian tours the California desert, lost in a cycle of third-rate venues, novelty tourist attractions, and vain attempts to reach his estranged daughter. By day, he slogs through the barren landscape, inadvertently alienating every acquaintance. At night, he seeks solace in the animation of his onstage persona. Fueled by the promise of a lucrative Hollywood engagement, he trudges through a series of increasingly surreal and volatile encounters. In Alverson’s hallucinatory fugue, Gregg Turkington stars as The Comedian, caught in a struggle between being the center of attention and the object of alienation, occasionally challenged by an unexpected cast of characters played by Tye Sheridan, John C. Reilly, Michael Cera, and Amy Seimetz.
I'm not really a fan of absurdist comedies like this (I don't dig Quentin Dupieux's films either), so this doesn't appeal to me in the least, which is why I skipped it at Sundance. Others may feel different, and if you're into it you can check out Entertainment when it opens November 13th.
Entertainment official Trailer #1 by Movies Trailers
