Charmed by ‘Happening of Monumental Proportions’
Music teacher Mr. McRow (Anders Holm) is part of a long-running joke in “A Happening of Monumental Proportions” when he keeps crossing paths with the same student and does that little dance two people do when they don’t know where the other is going.
Mr. McRow tells the student that he needs to choose a path and stick to it. Commit.
This is a parallel to a pep talk that the teacher tells himself amidst his depression, but it’s a quote that’s reflective of director Judy Greer’s directorial debut film.
Greer, known for “13 Going On 30” as best friend Lucy Wyman, captured the light-hearted humor in dark subjects
with a charming cast. But the story doesn’t really have a focused plot.
The film opens by introducing Daniel (Common), a widowed accountant
manager, and his daughter, Patricia (Storm Reid). They have breakfast over one of Mom’s recipes, and she asks himto talk at her elementary school’s career day.
All seem’s pretty normal until Daniel gets a call from a man who knows about Daniel’s affair with his assistant, Nadine (Jennifer Garner). The man, Nadine’s husband, wants to meet, but Daniel has to go to work first.
As if the day couldn’t get any worse, Daniel is falsely accused of breaking the office coffee pot, putting him in danger of getting fired by new boss Arthur Schneedy (Bradley Whitford).
Meanwhile, Principal Nichols (Allison Janney) and Mr. Pendlehorn (Rob Riggle) find a deceased school ground’s landscaper next to a heaping pile of manure and a winning lottery ticket. And music teacher Mr. McRow is struggling with depression, tobacco and alcohol addiction after he’s turned down by a record label.
To top things off, Patricia captures the heart of new kid Darius (Marcus Eckert), but the feelings aren’t so mutual. Soon, the audience finds that the characters’ stories are more interwoven and similar than they initially appear.
For a large cast of characters played by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, the acting wasn’t groundbreaking. But it definitely is charming in a Fox’s “New Girl” kind of way, thanks to Greer’s comedic expertise.
When you see how lovesick Darius is, you can’t help but root for him. Daniel is just a father trying to do his best, but he’s plagued by numerous problems in one day. And Principal Nichols is all of us when she sees how ridiculous the paramedics are after claiming “cadavers aren’t their specialty” when they’re called to the elementary school to retrieve the body.
Sounds funny, right? But it feels like writer Gary Lundy didn’t know what kind of movie it was.
If maybe one or two elements were used, that would be plenty for a movie. However, there are numerous little details that barely scratch the surface between the broken coffee pot and the dead man’s winning lottery ticket that it’s hard to focus.