There will come a point in the middle of Fool’s Paradise, comedian Charlie Day’s directorial debut that is being released to almost zero fanfare, where you start asking yourself, “what is this all for?” Maybe it will be when Day, doing his best Buster Keaton impression, dawns an outrageous mosquito costume as a Michael Bay-adjacent hotshot director (Jason Sudekis) has tennis balls shot at him in front of a green screen. Or maybe it will be when Jillian Bell, playing a not-so-vaguely racist shaman for the stars, attempts to soothe Day with her incense sticks and melodious gibberish. Or maybe it will be when Common appears two-thirds into the movie as a forgotten action star now living as a delusional vagabond. Regardless of wherever your patience runs thin, you can rest assured that it will do just that despite what is otherwise a lean 97 minute runtime.
And there’s the rub with Fool’s Paradise, an admirably ambitious melting pot of countless inspirations, a riff on Being There for modern Hollywood if it were to star The Tramp. All of these elements are great on their own, and perhaps there is a version of this story that puts these homages in tandem. Sadly, this ain’t it. Styled like the ‘30s but filmed as though it were the ‘70s while taking shots at the 2020s, Day’s vision is a confused and aimless culture clash that waters each of its distinct touchpoints down to its most artificial elements. As a result, the comedy feels trite and lifeless.
Nowhere is this more clear than with Day himself, who stars as Latte Pronto, a mental patient plucked off the streets of Los Angeles when he bears an exact resemblance to a fussy method actor who won’t leave his trailer. Day proves he has a knack for physical comedy, even going so far as to stay mute the entire movie a la Charlie Chaplin, but the character himself lacks the charm, wit, or heart that made icons of the silent era indelible. The character is so frequently confused, and punched down on more often than not, that the entire charade feels like pale imitation despite Day getting the majority of the film’s laughs.
The rest of the cast feel similarly hollow, though you can’t claim they aren’t trying to understand the assignment. Ken Jeong, who has gone on record calling his supporting performance as Larry, Latte’s desperate publicist, “the best performance [he’s] ever done on film,” is certainly tapping into a vulnerability we’ve never seen before. However, when the bar is set at The Hangover, there isn’t much to surpass. As hard as Jeong tries, Day’s script does not give the character enough depth or complexity to merit any likability or intrigue, repeating the same selfish beats over and over before simply explaining his character flaws to the audience.
Kate Beckinsale as Day’s love interest is another symptom of the film’s stylistic mish-mash, an Audrey Hepburn meets Angelina Jolie that feels like an obvious joke from the jump. Beckinsale proves she would be a wonderful femme fatale in a movie that knew what it was. Amidst a sea of other amusing but unmemorable characters and cameos (including many of Day’s previous co-stars), Adrien Brody is the only one who gets off scot-free as bonkers co-star Chad Luxt, a deeply misogynistic role but one that is just so committed and, at times, electric that it feels as though it has a life beyond the film.
When you look beyond the satire, it’s clear that the heart of the story is the relationship between Latte and Larry. In the aforementioned interview with Jeong, he mentions that Day’s infamously last-minute rewrites for th film greatly expanded his character, and that is clearly where the majority of the film’s value lies. Their friendship is the anchor amidst the absurdity, an unlikely but charming pairing despite flimsy characterization on both sides. Both of their struggles amidst the studio system create a brotherhood between them, but it doesn’t quite materialize until the third act, and even then it’s padded with a “comic” misunderstanding. You wanna root for them, both as Latte and Larry and as Charlie and Ken, but in a film this flimsy, the only thing you can feel by the end is disappointment and exasperation.
Fool’s Paradise is now playing in theaters nationwide courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Despite its admirable ambition and occasionally strong physical comedy, “Fool’s Paradise” is far too sloppy in its satire to offer any new insight as a Hollywood farce.
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GVN Rating 4
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Larry Fried is a filmmaker, writer, and podcaster based in New Jersey. He is the host and creator of the podcast “My Favorite Movie is…,” a podcast dedicated to helping filmmakers make somebody’s next favorite movie. He is also the Visual Content Manager for Special Olympics New Jersey, an organization dedicated to competition and training opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities across the Garden State.