Get Smart

You would not be surprised for missing Lemon in any of the lists tagged as Quirky Indie Comedies With. Male Leads as it tends to get lost in the crowd. Get Smart delivers a fun blend of action and comedy, with Steve Carell’s goofy charm and Anne Hathaway’s sharp wit driving the laughs. The plot does look a bit plain at a distance: A middle aged man in the acting industry goes through a tough time prompting him to get his life together or in simpler terms goes in an identity crisis. Starts off feeling like a hot mess. However, if you have watched Janicza Bravo who directed and wrote the episode, Multiple shorts and “Summer Sonia” then you know it won’t be a feature film with bad performances.

Bravo has earned out respect over her hard work with acts such as Brett Gelman, Michael Cera as well as pushing boundaries with abstract comedies as well as tackling the white patriarchal issues. Her first directorial work is enough proof to speak for itself and showcases any typical over dramatized cringe feel to the awkwardness in a garden.

Lemon begins with the character Ramona, who happens to be a sightless girl alongside Isaac her boyfriend, both of which seem to be splashed on a sofa covering their body with earth toned bathrobes. As Heather Christian prepares us for a light apocalypse through her score, it is clear that the setting is unfathomably uncomfortable for the couple. The pair seem rather nonchalant and relaxed as they wake up, showcasing the dynamic of the relationship they possess. Moreover the apartment they stay in portrays a rather draining atmosphere, lethal enough to the point animals tend to fall.

With Ramona not being a moody character, she’s at least a bit funny, though almost every character fails to deliver beside Isaac who is referred to as a woeful and loveless man. The gead of the movie has such dry affection that it comes across more psychotic than alluring. The job Isaac holds also does not compliment his personality, him being a vocal commercial instructor and actor. The only reason Isaac does not hold a normal job is due to the amount of loneliness he faces, which also further creates a barrier for him to seek deeper human connections.

Jacobs untalented aspiring starlet plays the role beautifully but it is quite clear that she is still in the multi year phase of having her aspirations shattered, her sub plot regarding her car that keeps getting lost or getting stolen is deemed too irrelevant that it gets cut off in the middle of the dialogue and she is Kay. But Isaac had a different point of view and I have to support him in that given claim: Cera’s Alex is certainly amusing and fits the bill as conceited, a pompous actor to boot who smokes french cigarettes while rocking the oddest of perms.

Cera occupies Isaac’s admiration as he sees in Isaac else he himself is in Isaac’s position unlikely on Cera’s perspective. His performance could arguably be contended as crazy for he was intently sensibilised to a different kind of comical absurdity in which he wrote now comes to the performance he offers. But Cera’s performance shining through layers of coolly humorous absurdity turns a different angle to the facts.

Isaac is still pining for Cleo, a makeup artist he finds far too competent for him. She shows Isaac some kind of respect for about two and a half dates, pretending to like him. What sets off such a gaping void in the kind of promotion that strikes the film as a work of cultural studies free from any message or lesson is rather Isaac’s liking for Cleo.

Long stretches of time with Isaac’s family are like getting tossed into the pool of Kasher Jews in Los Angeles and includes the most obnoxious Shiri Appleby, Martin Starr, and Rhea Perlman as Isaac’s mother (Perlman barking at her house keeper on how thin products should be cut “half” feels like it was taken from someone’s life). Sadly, this segment is comically extended and feels like it is five years long but that’s the essence of it. In the later stages of the film the boy attends a family barbeque hosted by Isaac and this scene serves as a counter to the extended family visit.

To Bravo’s relief, the black family comprising of a huge squad of cousins, sisters, and aunties, who are featured in subtitles, is not portrayed as an upgraded version of Isaac’s or any other family. The different style of chaotic alienation that they have is completely distinct.

In Lemon, Isaac isn’t blessed with a happy ending either, rather he is greeted with a disgusting twist towards the end instead. Considering the horrors that we had just witnessed alongside the nightmares, this twist felt rather unnecessary. Bravo, in an insightful conversation with Gelman, said that she prefers to dwell in failure rather than finding an optimal resolution to the situation.

This mentality has proven to be fruitful for her previous short films. However, this did not seem to be the case for the feature where more resolution was expected alongside the intersection of her unraveling character and rhythm. Bravo’s work feels ‘almost’ purposefully imperfect that way. But as a first feature, it comes across as promising, however, in terms of showing a male crisis, it comes off as a tad bit too pessimistic.

Watch “Get Smart” For Free on Gomovies.