Review of It's Entertainment (2014) by Peter F — 11 Oct 2016

Rick Alverson's follow up to his harrowing cultural breakdown, The Comedy, is another dismal piece of anti-humor. Starring comedian Greg Turkington, the film borrows his long running stand-up alter-ego Neil Hamburger and places him on a bizarre road trip through the American southwest.

Like The Comedy, Entertainment quickly establishes that it has little interest in iterating a storyline, and instead focuses on establishing mood and theme through environment shots, performances, and strange scenarios that often lack resolutions.

Despite its archaic exterior however, Entertainment undeniably carries a sense of tension to it, thanks to a Lynchian soundtrack, and a nuanced performance from Turkington that grows with unease, and strikes as especially well-earned come the film's climax.

Entertainment is probably Alverson's best film yet, and also suggests that he is the most European of the current crop of American indie filmmakers.