Watching a bad movie that has great performances is odd. Serious People has some of the most natural-sounding dialogue I’ve ever heard in a film, but it’s also one of the blandest movies I’ve seen in the past year.
This is a comedy about a music-video director hiring a body double to take his place on a shoot so he can be there for the birth of his first child. The premise has legs to it, but there’s not a lot that the movie does with it. The movie spends large chunks of its 80-minute runtime meandering around with long scenes that only occasionally make attempts at humor.
The first half of the movie is dry, but replete with scenes that have good performances, yet devoid of anything interesting or funny. The dialogue is very realistic and the performances feel natural; it’s the film’s strongest aspect. The absurdity of using a doppelganger, combined with the scenes satirizing Los Angeles showbiz culture, is supposed to clash with all the realism, yet the results are often underwhelming.
Pasqual Gutierrez plays himself, and Miguel Huerta plays his doppelganger (also named Miguel). Miguel is the only source of comedy through the film. He does a great job of playing an airhead who’s full of himself and relishes the power given to him as the director on set. He’s not a nuanced character, but without him, the movie would have nothing going for it in terms of comedy.
Pasqual is afraid that the birth of his child will change who he is, and the anxiety causes him to push his girlfriend away. As he spends more time with Miguel, it looks like the film is setting up some kind of role reversal where Pasqual has more fun living like a bachelor, and Miguel gets engrossed in directing.
That doesn’t happen, and I’m not sure if it’s an intentional fakeout for the sake of comedy or if Pasqual (as the writer) just couldn’t think of a satisfying payoff to the plotline.
Serious People employs numerous wide, faraway shots that linger for extended periods. As the movie plays on, it’s apparent that’s one of the only visual tricks the directors had up their sleeve. It adds to the feeling of boredom that builds from the beginning of the film. It leaves you expecting something big and explosive to contrast what came before, but it never happens.
Pasqual references Curb Your Enthusiasm in an early scene, which saves me the trouble of using it as a point of contrast for this movie. Curb did a great job of mocking LA culture, but that wasn’t the only tool it had. Great sitcoms attempt something funny in every scene, whether it’s a visual gag or a verbal joke.
Exceptions can be made for scenes that advance the plot or set up a big punchline later. This film, on the other hand, wastes scenes on dialogue that only move the story forward. It’s dry to the point at which the script could easily be turned into a drama with just a few tweaks.
S
erious People isn’t a bad movie by any means. It shows glimpses of potential here and there. It’s just a shame that such solid, laudable performances are wasted on a boring plot.
Author Bio:
Ulises Duenas is a senior writer and film critic at Highbrow Magazine.
For Highbrow Magazine