AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN
Love and other rugs…
OUT 23 OCTOBER
Jim Hosking’s follow-up to The Greasy Strangler tones down the gore and gross-out and ups the star power. The absurdity level, meanwhile, remains the same; which is to say, through the roof. Like Strangler, which left even fans feeling queasy, it won’t be everyone’s cup of weird. But if your funny bone’s in synch with Hosking’s humour – with its running (sometimes into the ground) gags, deadpan performances, sleazy cartoon vibes and fashion crimes – you’ll have a memorable Evening.
Rather than one man’s lust affair with lard, the hook here is a love quadrangle, with all corners occupied by quality comic talent: Aubrey Plaza, giving great side-eye as runaway wife Lulu Danger; Jemaine Clement, giving good-bad wig (and other hairs) as lovestruck stranger Colin; Matt Berry as Rodney, platonic (and possessive) life partner to the titular Mr. Linn; and Craig Robinson, growling away as the man himself, whose sold-out show is the icing on a cake layered with sight gags, non sequiturs and an unexpected dose of sweet sincerity. Clearly, Hosking is no bullshit artist.
THE VERDICT
The Greasy Strangler director tries a little tenderness… with loony, loveable results.