Review of The Overnight (2015) by Manny C — 11 Jul 2015

Hot and hilarious sex comedies are a rarity these days. So you can forgive The Overnight for its few rough spots. Writer-director Patrick Brice has struck gold with a quartet of terrifically playful and scrappy actors who couldn't be better in their roles. It's a rollicking good time. The setup: Emily (Taylor Schilling) and Alex (Adam Scott) have just moved from Seattle to Los Angeles and are now strangers in a strange land. They stroll through the park with their young son to meet some new friends, and happen on eccentric Kurt (Jason Schwartzman), who hastily invites them for a pizza dinner at the gated mansion he shares with wife Charlotte (Judith Godreche) and their young son.

It's what happens after dinner when the kids are asleep that things get interesting. Kurt proudly shows off his paintings, acrylic variations on the human asshole (quite literally) and plays Charlotte's crowning achievement, a smutty DVD in which she demonstrates the fine art of breast pumping. Schwartzman is a comic genius, skillfully spouting off the witty banter that makes you understand why Alex and Emily don't bolt for the door right away. But when Charlotte (French Godreche is way hot and hilarious) takes Emily off to a massage parlor, things take a turn for the je ne sais quoi. Back at the house, Kurt and Alex are having a nude dance by the pool, Kurt's gigantic penis prominently dwarfing Alex's (both are prosthetic).

Before giving too much away,, it must be said that Brice, who made an excellent debut with 2014's Creep, has a gift for getting a lot out of just four people talking. Scott, from tv's beloved Parks and Recreation, has an amazingly light touch that keeps him so likable. And Schilling, so dazzling on Netflix's Orange Is The New Black, has a knack for going from screwball to way serious without making a false note. She's superb, and so kudos to Scott, Schilling, Godreche and Schwartzman. You see The Overnight and revel in their company. It's a night to remember.