FAMILY FIREWORKS FAIL TO IGNITE
Louis C.K'S new film, Fourth of July, all but fizzles out on familiar ground
“A day late and a dollar short” doesn't quite describe Fourth of July, a new comedy from director and co-writer Louis C.K. that arrives days late and two bits shy of the dark comedy it wants to be.
Also: Director and co-writer Louis C.K.? Though largely reintegrated into the entertainment firmament after revelations of sexual misconduct torpedoed his 2017 film, I Love You, Daddy (a movie with a Woody Allen-esque subplot no less), his name on this one is probably enough to cause many would-be viewers to give it a pass, or at least a pause.
Comedian Joe List co-wrote the script and stars as Jeff, a recovering alcoholic who is dreading attending his family's annual Fourth of July get-together. Eventually he decides to go without his wife (played by List's actual wife, Sarah Tollemache), the better to confront his parents about what he perceives as their shortcomings.
The family is a sprawling heap of drunken Boston accents.
Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Bobby, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Mark, Tony, Tricia, Brenda, Darlene — Jeff can barely get a word in edgewise, let alone have a heart-toheart with the folks.
He finds an ally of sorts in Naomi (Tara Pacheco), a cousin's friend who is as much an outsider as Jeff feels himself to be.
The film's press notes say that the two writers each came at the story from different angles, and it shows in the uneven tone of the finished product. The movie veers from near-slapstick to moments so dark that I half-expected a suicide to mar the comedy.
There are some great bits, mind you — I love the notion of a plumber whose on-the-job theft of copper is predicated on the maxim: Steal low, sell high.
But in the end, Fourth of July tries for a night of fireworks, and winds up with a few duds in the mix.