Review of Manny Lewis (2015) by Lee R — 14 Mar 2015

Comedian Carl Barron has written and starred in this film, which is his first film. The film follows a popular stand up comedian who has chronic depression. Kudos must be given to Barron for not just simply making a quirky comedy starring himself, playing himself..

And depression is well represented here, without over playing it. The film also looks at the invasion of privacy that the public think is acceptable when they see someone who is famous, leading to a very lonely feeling for the person who is famous.

However, the problem with the film is that it is quite depressing, as personally, I don't find Barron to be all that funny, which doesn't help elevate the mood in the moments of standup that are placed throughout the film.

Whilst Barron's acting is adequate, his very dry drawl and very short sentences don't make for a very dynamic character to carry the 80 minute movie, especially considering the lack of other characters in the film. The few characters who are there, are very under written.

Leanna Walsman plays the love interest. We find out very little about her, except that she loves Brazil and she works as a phone sex worker (for which she 'has her reasons' but we never get any explanation of what those reasons are).

We have Lewis' father, played by a miscast Roy Billing. Billing is far too pleasant in the role, and his character doesn't fit the abusive back story he is given.

We also have Manny's friend and manager, whom we get very little story for, and who is either partying hard and being silly, or trying to be a father figure to Manny or to his son.

The only other real character is a dog that Manny visits from time to time. Manny connects with the dog, who has an abusive owner, however, this plot goes nowhere, and including the very sad looking dog only managed to depress me further.

The musical score is very absent, failing to add any feeling of movement that the film needed to help keep it moving forward.

Whilst it has it's good points, the film fails to deliver either an entertaining story, nor a deep character study.