Review of Folk Hero & Funny Guy (2016) by Aw C — 02 Mar 2018

Folk Hero and Funny Guy stars Wyatt Russell and Alex Karpovsky as two lifelong friends. This indie road trip comedy finds both the comedian and the folksy rock singer at a crossroads. Both friends are stuck in a rut working towards a dream but have not made much change in their lives over the past decade. Wyatt proposes an idea to his friend to go on a road trip where Alex will open as the comedian to his folk singer act. Wyatt has promised his friend they have many gigs lined up on this road trip.

We soon see the dynamic of Wyatt and Alex as Alex reluctantly agrees to embark on this adventure. Rolling up in a large tour bus shows Wyatt taking the reins and making decisions while Alex meekly accepts his friend's control of the situation. Tour bus is a reminder of the way Wyatt steam rolls over his friend's feelings when he has a differing opinion. The recurring problem of Wyatt making changes to the tour and Alex not standing up for himself will play itself out frequently throughout the picture.

Most of the movie centers around the dynamic of their friendship and the places where they have settled in getting along with each other. There have been a lot of good times between the two but painful truths have been ignored for the sake of maintaining a friendship. Spending time with anyone will often invite confrontation and this trip seems to be the thorn in their side. Wyatt is faced with the truth he struggles with committing to anyone in relationships. Alex is forced to confront his issues of not speaking up for himself and deciding to be complacent when making any changes in his life. These issues come to the surface realistically with dialogue you genuinely believe occurs between two friends.

The film takes a while for the characters to get to the point they can admit not everything is going as smoothly as they would like. I enjoyed the pace of the movie allowing you to get to know the characters and hoping they would confront the issues plaguing them most of their lives. Wyatt is charming and affable as the folk singer. A genuine heart makes him more likeable and he is not some shallow rock singer. Well, at least he is not shallow all of the time and you feel he does care about his friend. Alex is awkward and everything his friend is not. He struggles to find any footing in his confidence and the actor plays the comedian as down to earth. Also, there are natural humorous moments when he is himself. Another truth is the comedian is not funny when he has forced jokes and humor should be something coming out of natural situations.

Writing makes the characters feel real and a good balance exists between the friends. Both actors are able to play the characters straight forward but interact as real friends would. Most of the writing appears as though two friends wrote the script together. There are so many movies I have seen where things feel forced between the friends but here the friendship is anything but forced.

There is not much plot development in this film and the film does not have much to say. Most of the message centers around people may not change but the view of a friendship can change with time. Some people do not change but the dynamics can change especially when others have confidence to speak their truths.

Overall, the movie is nice for a one-time watch of what feels like a real friendship. There are not many scenes too memorable where I would look to watch this film again. The film also does not really go in different directions than other road trip comedies before it. Most of the movie is subtle and happy to wind along a freewheeling path with little direction. The protagonists of this film are forced to confront their own issues and how that impacts their friendship. I did enjoy this movie and the realistic dialogue. I did not laugh out loud but I found myself chuckling. My hope is Wyatt will do more comedies because I found him perfectly cast in this role as the free spirit. Most people will find a fun, breezy movie but has touches of cynicism when it comes to relationship. Also, a nice discovery is that you can relate to these characters.