Entertainment (2015)

The Comedian sprays his unwieldy hair like a pacifist disciplines their dog. Brushstrokes of hair pulse across his forehead concealing a barren head. He is a performer and a disgrace. Vulgarity and apathy are The Comedian's punch lies, and they land like a dirty southpaw. Some entertainers wish to gather admirers. The Comedian, however, knows that folks remember their enemies most vividly.Economy motels and gas station bathrooms provide refuge from drunken halls and Mexican diners. One stop fails to secure The Comedian a hotel room, and houses him at a relative's casa. Lying on an abbreviated couch and crotchet pillow, he is tempted by lustful dreams. He has no gall to grasp them, and is reduced to a pathetic puddle.At every stop, The Comedian reminds the audience that he stands before them as an escape. He is a salesman of forgetting. People ought to sit down and laugh, laying their real life worries on the bar counter. The Comedian hurls blazing rebukes at anyone who dares to remind the room that his character is fabricated. And he character is indeed fabricated poorly.Eddie opens the show each night, once an admirer of The Comedian, but his face broadcasts news of a dying star. Pantomiming is the character Eddie hops into, and the contrast to The Comedian's three drinks and one microphone routine is staggering. A kid delighting common people with a clown nose and a bell hat. Cheap laughs pour out for the phenom, but they do not sand the psyches of the audience.It would be easy to call The Comedian's work higher art, but fishing for sympathy is just as cheap as the mime's prop work. No, entertainment is an alchemy of exorcism. The Comedian meets a connoisseur of the chromatic scale, a witch of color. He dives into her art for in hopes of self-reflection. Possibly to understand why he only hears his daughter's voicemail.The Comedian's set lists are packed with tumors. His mission is to milk laughter from an festering breast, to walk into the grime and smile. This journey will take him exactly where he envisions on the bulky televisions, yet he will not be able to stomach his destination. He will deliver a child, but will never be able communicate with the stranger.

Entertainment is a poor movie with a horrendous plot and character development, joined by a talented cast that are trying their very best to bring some life to these underwhelming parts. I understand that every decision this film made was made on purpose, but I despised each and every piece of this plot. All the weird sequences that contained little to no dialogue, such as The Comedian walking through the dessert to disturbing music, or the scene where he delivers a baby, are very unclear in terms of what their objective was. It is very hard to tell whether this movie was aiming to effect us or make us laugh. It was all far too humorous to be taken as a drama, but also too intense to be considered a comedy, the whole thing really just felt unnecessary to me. Maybe if the character was a likable one that I was able to support, then it could be redeemable, but I had no care for him or anything he did. I understand there are fans of this movie, and if you are thinking that the reason I did not enjoy this film is because I am not familiar with the work of Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington, I am actually a huge fan of On Cinema and Decker, I also love the Tim and Eric sketches, so this was genuinely something I was looking forward to. I was excited after seeing the very enthralling trailer and enthusiastic about seeing Turkington in a lead role, while his characterisation was stellar, I could not bring myself to appreciate this movie in any way. It simply did nothing for me other than confuse. Too funny to be dramatic, too dramatic to be funny, Entertainment is a regrettable 100 minutes. A washed up comedian goes on a tour across the country, and finds difficulty handling a lack of appreciation for his humour. Best Performance: Gregg Turkington / Worst Performance: Michael Cera

The title, in all its sarcasm in regard to the film's actual content, is a complete contradiction of what we may derive from Rick Alverson's drama. Entertainment is a very peculiar piece of cinema, but one that wishes to pretend to be something it's not.The nameless comedian (Gregg Turkington) travels around slums and dive bars in an American desert to put on a series of unedifying performances. As he dwells into the state of depression, he seeks refuge in calling his daughter and leaving her voice mails.Actually, it is really hard to understand Alverson's drama ins and outs. It is soaked with George Orwell's dystopian perception of reality, dripping with grotesque, with Greek tragedy written all over it too. What's more, the scraps of comedian's performances that we watch, are truly pitiful and create a colorful canvas with his personal drama. It's tailored with malaise and heart-wrenching sadness. We are also given a lot of symbolism – odd scenes (like the giving birth sequence) that even though sketch in the details of comedian's surroundings, reveal nothing important to the story itself. Yet, Alverson's point that he strives to make is just too obvious – you can't entertain people, if you don't feel like doing so. Entertainment just falls into the pit of self-loving artistry, without understanding the importance of the dialogue with the audience.Nevertheless, what needs to be stated is that the acting in Alverson's feature deserves appreciation. Turkington masterfully portrays a withdrawn, introvert and people-hating man, with details nurtured greatly, so that it makes his performance noticeable. The supporting cast do their part too – Tye Sheridan is perfect as the comedian's co-worker and John C. Reilly singing is something one just need to love. Then again, quite the contrary could be said about the soundtrack. It varies from creating a joyful contrast to be exaggerating with drama, struggling to remain the background and eventually becoming distracting.Entertainment was one of the indie productions that I truly awaited last year. Putting apart my love for peculiar filmmaking and the fact that Alverson's film reminds me of films like Lanthimos' Lobster, Coens' A serious man or Fargo – this film fails to establish any truthful bond with the viewer. If you seek a story of a broken comedian, this year's TV series Baskets is a much better choice.

What is entertainment? What possesses someone to want to entertain? Life can grind us down to the bone. It can buoy us at a special moment. We are in a constant battle against the stark reality of a barren world. A world full of sand. Sand and hills. Anima and Animus. The energy needed to move the seemingly immovable object is at a premium. Skeletons of aeroplanes, littered amongst the dunes. Lime green and tanned yellow walls. Colours affect our perception. Death and rebirth all in one day. A fly. Stuck to the wall. Hanging around. What's the point of even trying. To make any of you laugh. Do you even know what it takes to put on a show like this?!