Review of Big Nothing (2006) by Katelyn B — 30 Mar 2011

Were you too look up mediocre, amateur, first time writer/director, cheese fest in the dictionary you'd probably be sorely disappointed as such an entry doesn't exist, but poor attempt at witty introductions aside that more or less describes this film. The movie was filmed on about a 3 million dollar budget over 38 days in Wales (despite being set in Oregon) by up and comer Jean-Baptiste Andrea in 2006, a kiss of death it seems as he never made another film again. Therefore with the exception of Schwimmer this has a relatively unknown at the time cast, Simon Pegg's star having not yet been established, and even Schwimmer being fresh out of his time on Friends. So needless to say it didn't garner a lot of attention and after a limited UK theatrical run was never released in the US, it wasn't until Pegg became an America comedy actor favorite that people started to watch this and it really developed any sort of reputation at all. So is it worth watching? Is it a decent indie crime thriller akin too Reservoir Dogs, or an overrated cheesy terrible movie whose legacy is only so large because of Pegg's later genius? Let's take a look that's drowned in a septic tank.

Our protagonist is jobless, fired teacher Charlie (David Schwimmer, I hate Friends but this a decent if underwhelming performance, think Rain Man-lite) a strange man married to a strict police officer, who also recently lost his job as a call center tech support guy in one of the funnier scenes of the movie. He is convinced by his colleague Gus (Simon Pegg giving easily the meatiest performance of the film)to take part in a scam against a local priest who has child pornography on his computer. It seems fool proof he simply is there to provide an alibi for Gus on the night the extortion takes place but things get more complicated when a teen beauty queen with dirt on Gus named Josie (Alice Eve who's humorous in a very trashy base way) muscles in on the operation. From there the movie goes from a typical perfect plan goes awry and just gets worse from their story though damn does it take some dark and unexpected turns.

I enjoyed this movie but that doesn't mean I didn't recognize some pretty damn glaring flaws, you could almost say I enjoyed it in spite of myself. It always plays itself off like a screwball comedy much more so than its American counterpart Fargo but it takes too many dark and mean spirited turns not to be taken seriously. I mean I found them funny in a sick way and I'm all for dark humor, I think the funniest things are mean but that doesn't mean that while I'm laughing at the ridiculousness of a situation it's not also making me sick to my stomach. Sorry but things like drowning in a septic tank, a diabetic being forced to eat a lollipop at gunpoint and the films familiar "surprise ending" are funny in a sick way but kind of unnervingly disturbing in their own way. At a certain point you have to have the natural reaction, of horror, pity and disgust though and this makes the movie's theme, feel and overlying message feel a bit jumbled. Also it manages to make some pretty crazy plot twists but that doesn't necessarily mean all of them are smart or make a whole lot of sense... in fact a lot of the twists if you think too much about them are pretty nonsensical and feel forced for the purpose of trying to blow your mind.

This is not a successful movie, Schwimmer and Jon Polito as a chubby private detective turn in some pretty average performances though there are some very funny quotable moments but the only thing really salvageable of quality from the film is Pegg's shockingly solid and not at all what you're probably expecting performance. Unfortunately it's trying way too hard to be Fargo and fails on every level, the intelligence, the subtlety, the quirky humor and the pathetically believable human brutality don't work nearly as well here as in their American contemporary or rather predecessor. I can't say I really regretted seeing the movie but I can't in good faith recommend unless you're a huge Simon Pegg or David Schwimmer fan because otherwise you're just wasting your time.