'Irresistible' Review
R: Language and Sexual ReferencesRuntime: 1 Hr and 43 MinutesProduction Companies: Plan B Entertainment, Busboy ProductionsDistributor: Focus FeaturesDirector: Jon StewartWriters: Jon StewartCast: Steve Carell, Chris Cooper, Mackenzie Davis, Topher Grace, Natasha Lyonne, Rose ByrneRelease Date: June 26, 2020 (Video-On-Demand)
A Democratic political strategist works the campaign for a retired veteran's bid for mayor of a small right-wing Wisconsin town. After the Democratic National Committee's top strategist Gary (Steve Carell) sees a video of a retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper) standing up for the rights of his town's undocumented workers, Gary believes he has found the key to winning back the Heartland. However, the Republican National Committee counters him by sending in his brilliant nemesis Faith (Rose Byrne) and a local race quickly becomes a fight for the soul of America.
Rose Byrne is funny. She portrays Faith, a crass Republican strategist and the archenemy of Steve Carell’s character, Gary. While Gary is one of those annoying ass White Democrats –– which will be further explained in the “bad” section –– Faith is honest with the bullshit she pulls. It’s clear that she’s bullshit and she revels in it just to make Gary her bitch. It’s not something I like, but as far as the character goes, I can respect it.
One of Hasan Minhaj’s recent episodes of Patriot Act deconstructs the shitty electoral system that America prides itself on. I bring this up because that half-hour episode of Patriot Act is more insightful than Jon Stewart's pretentious hour-and-forty-minute feature comedy that thinks it’s so smart by exhibiting the blatant greedy nature of White Democrats when it’s literally just stating the obvious. Stewart actually thinks that he’s saying something or being satirical. Satire is enjoyable when you make fun of something that hasn’t been addressed before or something that’s not really noticed by the public. What’s so satirical about shitty White people being shitty White people? It doesn’t matter what their political stance is. It’s well known that both parties are riddled with assholes who live to see the opposition lose. We didn’t need the 2016 Presidential Election to make that fact clear — it simply made the glass thinner.Steve Carell, why are you on such a losing streak? Why are you starring in these political comedies that are as inept at politics as they are inept at being funny? It’s belittling your talent and it’s becoming more and more frustrating by the role. Is this your shtick now? Carell’s pattern right now is this: bad political comedy role, Gru, dramatic role (results may vary), bad political comedy role, Gru. Granted, he’s still a great actor, but the roles he’s interested in are not boding well for him. Gary, a White Democratic strategist, sees a viral video of a retired Marine Colonel-turned-farmer making a progressive speech at his town’s county meeting. After striking out in 2016, Gary makes it his mission to run the farmer’s campaign and make him the next Democratic mayor of his small town.
What makes Gary so exhausting is that he turns political races into a sport. When he travels to a small town in an overwhelmingly red state, he talks down to everyone when everyone gives him just the kindest of hospitality. He’s so obnoxious that he’s over-the-top, condescending, and rude, among other things. Though the movie doesn’t necessarily want you to root for Gary, you’re still stuck with him as your lead while the more interesting narrative is actually in the background. Stewart ultimately served that as a “twist.” I’ll get to that in a second.One of my biggest complaints about Irresistible is that it’s simply not funny. The humor focuses on the many aspects behind a political campaign, but it wastes the talents of performers like Natasha Lyonne and Topher Grace, who appear as Gary’s data analysts. The humor is too broad and Stewart aims for an R-rated edge that often falls flat. The editing is so basic that certain visual gags are predictable as hell. The only times I laughed were when Steve Carell and Rose Byrne’s characters argued. Their dynamic is funny, albeit formulaic. However, what set me off the most was the Scooby-Doo-like twist where the film revealed its true nature. By God, it’s core is even more bitter than the outer shell. It pissed me off more than the character I was forced to follow for ninety minutes. Fuck it, here are some spoilers because I don’t care and there’s no way anybody’s going to drop the $20 necessary to watch this.
The viral video that gets Gary’s attention shows Colonel Jack Hastings ranting about immigrant rights. Gary goes full Donny Osmond on Jack and tries to make a Dem out of him, but when Election Day ends with a tie, it’s revealed that everyone in the town staged the video so they could get attention and squeeze money out of both Gary and Faith’s campaign teams. The immigrants don’t actually matter because this town full of White folks fabricated the whole movement. They just needed the money to rebuild their town because it was dirt poor and that was the only solution they could muster. Somehow that twist feels even more mean-spirited than Gary’s false motivation to help Jack. God, this movie sucks. Irresistible is a frustrating comedic satire that is inept at both the comedy and the satire. This movie feels like it was written and directed by someone who reads the NYT for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and actually thinks he’s smarter than everyone by doing so. What a waste of great talent on such a shallow, trashy script. Rating: 1/5 | 26%
