Lionel Macomb (Steve Coogan) is a right wing talk show host on New York radio. His successful firebrand life is turned upside down when his never-known 16 year old niece Tess shows up. Val (Neve Campbell) is his assistant.
The opening premise has an obvious out. He could play up the fact that he's throwing out his niece because it's his dog-eat-dog view of the world. A right wing diatribe about personal self-sufficiency is the perfect way to sell it. I don't think the film understands the real American right wing. Coogan feels more like a British right wing politician or a right wing blowhard from 10 years ago. Of course, there is another way to go with the premise. He could see her as a way to add drama to his show or enter politics or fight his way onto TV. I don't really buy his character to start and that makes it hard to buy the movie. It even has a Tucker Carlson character. Everything is on-the-nose and not-quite-right. The issue is that Trump has made this movie obsolete and lost at sea. It thinks that it has a point but it's adrift.
As for Tess, I wasn't sure where the film was going with her. She is nothing more than an object used to reform a conservative blowhard or at least this imaginary form of a conservative blowhard. It's all very fake like a discussion around a New York dinner party. Tess is not a real character. It's too bad that she's not a real 16 year old. I thought she could be interesting as she scams her way into his apartment. After Lionel takes her in, she no longer has any drama. In addition, Val is a complete blank. She has no distinguishing characteristics other than being Neve Campbell. I don't buy any of these characters and by extension, I don't buy this movie until over an hour into it. Lionel does a diatribe finally worthy of American politics. He finally becomes real but every other character is trying to gaslight me. It's like every character is too dumb to understand real political discourse. That diatribe should be the starting point and the story should be his journey to find hope.
The opening premise has an obvious out. He could play up the fact that he's throwing out his niece because it's his dog-eat-dog view of the world. A right wing diatribe about personal self-sufficiency is the perfect way to sell it. I don't think the film understands the real American right wing. Coogan feels more like a British right wing politician or a right wing blowhard from 10 years ago. Of course, there is another way to go with the premise. He could see her as a way to add drama to his show or enter politics or fight his way onto TV. I don't really buy his character to start and that makes it hard to buy the movie. It even has a Tucker Carlson character. Everything is on-the-nose and not-quite-right. The issue is that Trump has made this movie obsolete and lost at sea. It thinks that it has a point but it's adrift.
As for Tess, I wasn't sure where the film was going with her. She is nothing more than an object used to reform a conservative blowhard or at least this imaginary form of a conservative blowhard. It's all very fake like a discussion around a New York dinner party. Tess is not a real character. It's too bad that she's not a real 16 year old. I thought she could be interesting as she scams her way into his apartment. After Lionel takes her in, she no longer has any drama. In addition, Val is a complete blank. She has no distinguishing characteristics other than being Neve Campbell. I don't buy any of these characters and by extension, I don't buy this movie until over an hour into it. Lionel does a diatribe finally worthy of American politics. He finally becomes real but every other character is trying to gaslight me. It's like every character is too dumb to understand real political discourse. That diatribe should be the starting point and the story should be his journey to find hope.