Self Reliance (2023)

 

Genre: Comedy

Time: 1h 30mins

Director: Jake Johnson

Quick Summary: Given the opportunity to participate in a life-or-death reality game show, one man discovers there's a lot to live for.

*disappointed* oh

I think I expected more from this. This had a lot of promise as the set-up for this film was so damn good and funny. It was the strangest thing I have ever seen, Andy Samberg pulled up in a limo to this random dude and told him to get in. I was instantly hooked by this premise, but unfortunately, it struggles just after the halfway point.

It has its funny moments. Jake Johnson was funny no matter what he was doing as well as Anna Kendrick. Together they were just like two awkward kids and I loved it. But I noticed as soon as we got over the initial hurdle of the set-up, they just weren't as funny. The awkwardness had vanished. The same goes for James, the homeless guy. After all the jokes were made and everyone had gotten used to him, he was just there. Which sure is funny in its own way, but he felt useless. The family felt a little strange too, like they were sort of realistic because who is going to believe in a game like that, but also felt a bit ridiculous. The mum changed her tune every other scene, and the two sisters were really one note: sarcastic and mocking. 

Where I think this went wrong is that the ending was incredibly anti-climactic. There was no twist or surprise ending. What they said was going to happen, happened. There also wasn't really any action when it came to the fights in this. For a film about a guy playing a dark web game where he has to survive people trying to hunt him for 30 days, it lacked any sort of thriller aspect. 

This was fun and I did enjoy it. I would happily recommend this to people, just don't expect anything that's going to blow you away and it left me feeling a little empty and disappointed at the ending. It's a simple comedy, don't expect anything more. I don't think that's a bad thing as simple comedies are good and easy to watch.

7/10

"Charlie: The show is a comedy.

Tommy: How is it a comedy they're trying to fucking kill us."