When his loved ones let him down, Tommy enlists the first sucker he can find: James (Biff Wiff), a good-natured bum who’s easily convinced to serve as Tommy’s constant companion - and who, with his missing front teeth and Salvation-Army-Santa beard, becomes a steady (never mean-spirited) source of laughs. But they didn’t specify what company he can keep. As both creator and lead character, he spends most of the movie trying to exploit “the loophole,” a rule that says when Tommy’s in proximity of at least one other person, the hunters can’t touch him. Personally, I like the logical but unpredictable way his brain works from his oeuvre, “Self Reliance” is most like oddball comedy “Safety Not Guaranteed,” where the logistics of time-travel become half the joke. Now, some movies toss out a vaguely “Twilight Zone”-y situation like this and then focus on other things - like action or laughs, possibly even psychology - but Johnson’s clearly a stickler for rules. Problem is, the whole idea of the show sounds ridiculous, and nobody believes him - not his mom, not his sisters (Mary Holland and Emily Hampshire) - and the instant they abandon him, he’s vulnerable. Just when he starts to get comfortable, Tommy spots a guy with a rifle in his yard and decides that maybe he should call on his friends and family to protect him. The first few days, Tommy studies everyone around him, paranoid that they might be intending to snuff him. Like a lo-fi, gore-free “Squid Game,” the competition described in “Self Reliance” is far from cutting-edge entertainment, and Tommy puts a lot of faith in the producers that they won’t try to trick him. All he has to do is survive for 30 days while a team of highly trained “hunters” try to take him out. Should he take it? Probably not, but Tommy’s bored enough to accept, agreeing to meet a pair of eccentric producers who inform him that he’s been selected for a chance to win a million dollars. The helmer plays Tommy, who’s been a passive bystander in his own life for as long as he can remember, until one day famous dude Andy Samberg (also among the film’s producers) randomly pulls up in a stretch limo and offers Tommy a ride. Coming up for connection, Johnson delivers a silly and frequently surprising why-we-need-people parable that leans on laughs in lieu of peril. Why? Because the “New Girl” actor’s absurdist concept - about a sad-sack bored enough with his life that he agrees to risk it in a “Most Dangerous Game”-style reality show - assumed both profundity and relevance as soon as the species went into lockdown. ![]() And Andy Samberg is fantastic in a ludicrous cameo that will catch viewers off guard.There are movies made during the pandemic, and movies made because the pandemic, and though debuting director Jake Johnson had been kicking around the idea for “ Self Reliance” for years, it took COVID to motivate him to make it. ![]() Biff Wiff - who fans might recognize from his small role in Everything Everywhere All at Once - is absolutely hilarious. However, Johnson also gives opportunities to the rest of the ensemble to shine. This role obviously takes advantage of Johnson’s talents because he wrote it for himself. The ensemble is the biggest strength of the movie. For a film whose stakes are literally life-or-death, it doesn’t do a lot to convince the viewer of its substance. ![]() It seems clear that Johnson is building towards a redemption arc, but when that doesn’t turn out exactly as expected, it will leave viewers feeling rather empty. It is surprising how compelling the movie is despite its character being relentlessly selfish. It’s a shame because the inherent absurdity of the premise would lend itself to some great visual gags, and the best we get is a joke about an assassin dressed like the comedian Sinbad. Indeed, the emphasis of the execution of the film is more on the script and its jokes rather than suspense and physical humor.
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