#bill burr

Fireman Sad

Judd Apatow has frequently flirted with the idea of mortality in his comedies, whether it’s the impending midlife crisis of a couple in This is 40, or the gallows humour found in cancer comedy Funny People. Yet, few have come as close to the topic as The King of Staten Island, whose protagonist nearly commits suicide in the very first scene. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but Apatow manages to weave between comedy and drama effortlessly, helped in large part by a cracking breakthrough performance from Pete Davidson.

In a story that is partly based on Davidson’s own life, he plays Scott Carlin, a 24-year-old serial stoner who still lives with his mother (an underused Marisa Tomei), and has distant dreams of being a tattoo artist. Though he shrugs it off, it’s clear that the tragic death of his father (who died on duty as a fireman), has had a damaging impact on both his maturity and his personal relationships, whether it’s his long-suffering almost girlfriend (Bel Powley doing an impressive New York accent), or a sister whose promising future casts a shadow over his own (Maude Apatow).

Like its lead character, the opening section is replete with funny interludes, but doesn’t have much in the way of structure, with Apatow happy to let the film drift as Davidson and his friends improvise. Happily, before this gets old (apart from Ricky Velez, the friends are quite weakly sketched), the film really gets a jolt of life when Scott’s mom starts dating fireman Ray (Bill Burr) the father of a boy who Scott gives an illegal tattoo, and the two immediately clash. This in turn leads to some of the film’s best scenes – an explosive argument at a baseball game, a fight scene involving a pool – with Apatow perfectly playing on their differences for comedy.

From40 Year Old Virgin to his last film Trainwreck, Apatow’s films have been a great way of showcasing new comedic talent, and this is no different. Davidson has long been a feature player on Saturday Night Live, but his casting in the lead role here was a masterstroke – he perfectly plays his character’s agitation and easy irritability in the face of inconvenience (likely drawing from personal experiences), while also conveying a sweetness and charisma that wins you over in spite of the character’s flaws. While rooted in darkness, his performance also displays his knack for deadpan comic delivery and exasperated facial expressions – just look at his face as a girl drones on about why she doesn’t get tattoos. As Ray, Burr also does a commendable job of making a potential source of villainy into an empathetic character you come to understand as the film progresses. The story peers into his backstory in interesting ways, with Steve Buscemi popping up in a short but meaningful cameo as his boss.

The decision to pit these two against each other for most of the film is one that pays off massively - although it takes a predictable route, the resulting moments of reflection and self-discovery feel believable and well-earned. The film may be an exploration of the impact of death has on people’s lives, but it’s also a touching celebration about life and making amends with the past.

Featuring a striking debut performance from Davidson, this is a heartfelt, personal film that deftly balances its comedy with its affecting drama.

★★★★

‘The Prisoner’ continues a trend 'The Mandalorian’ has developed.  All in all, it’s a good episode with plenty of 'Star Wars’ easter eggs in it.  It is also pretty self-contained, and that may not sit right with viewers.  In the 'Game of Thrones’ and 'Lost’ era, where every episode had a bombshell, the self-contained nature of 'The Mandalorian’ is frustrating.  With only two episodes left in the season, it feels like we should know more about the main plot.

The action centers around breaking an inmate off a New Republic prison vessel.  Mando checks in with a character from his past named Ran (Mark Boone Jr.), who called him in because the mission needs Mando’s ship.  Mando doesn’t like the arrangements but goes along anyway.  So, of course, chaos ensues.  The main interest of this story is the change we see in Mando.  It sounds like he was pretty ruthless in his early days.  Now with a child to watch after, he’s mellowing out quite a bit.  Partner this with the other Mandalorians not liking his drawing attention to himself, and maybe we see his future.

The team assembled though doesn’t hold together all that well.  Mayfeld (Bill Burr) doesn’t have much of a plan and is surprised when the crew has success.  It seems strange that Ran would have put him in charge.  From the suggested history, it sounds as though Mando and Ran were reasonably successful at this kind of thing.  Maybe Ran was trying to rid himself of Mayfeld?   Putting him in charge of a mission doesn’t make sense otherwise.

The rest of the team is made up of various stereotypes that barely need mention.   While it is nice to see Twi'lek and Devaronian characters in live-action again,  the characters we see are mostly forgetable.  Because Mando leaves them alive, I expect we’ll see them again at some point, but hopefully not for a while.   Instead, I’d like to see some of the main plot brought back to the forefront.  We still need a resolution as to why the Client is running midi-chlorian experiments.   That can’t be an unimportant plot point, right?