Jake Johnson makes his feature directorial debut with “Self Reliance,” a comedy with a fascinating premise and an opening act that provides equal thrills and laughs.
Unfortunately, while Johnson’s script shows promise, the actor/writer-turned-director squanders it with a lack of strong vision, and a rom-com element that makes the film lose focus, and also most laughs.What if you take David Fincher’s “The Game,” but run it through The Lonely Island’s comedy filter? That’d get you close to “Self Reliance,” which starts strong but loses itself in an attempt to juggle too many tones at once.
We meet Johnson’s protagonist, Tom, a man conforming to a sad routine he repeats every single day.
He goes to the same bar, watches the same cowboy movies, and repeatedly tries and fails to knock on his ex-girlfriend’s door to ask her why she suddenly broke up with him.
Read full article