Best Man Down

The life and death of the best man, Lumpy. Koland’s courage to approach a conventional indie narrative about an outsider in an unconventional way becomes apparent as early as in the prologue. The film begins with its most cheerful scene, a wild wedding reception, something with which other comedies would end. The assumption that we will spend the subsequent eighty minutes watching the tragicomic events of the newlyweds’ life together is turned upside down by what comes next. Lumpy turns out to be the real hero of the story, even though is mostly physically absent, but he is the one who sets the story in motion. In any given crude comedy of recent years, Lumpy would merely be the protagonist’s humorous friend. Koland, however, set himself the goal of convincing us that a sensitive human being is hidden behind the mask of the chubby jester. Conversely, the outwardly happy couple lose their lustre as they become aware of the world of losers. Kristin and Scott show themselves to be two mentally unstable hypocrites who are made better people only by those who have no reason to pretend anything. Of course, at its core this involves the awful cliché about how we conceal who we really are and we either cannot or do not want to unleash our real potential. Thanks to the use of stereotypes, you will be able to formulate a psychological profile of the characters after twenty minutes (the uptight, hysterical woman; the unappreciated genius) and there is also lustre room for a publicly delivered “grand” speech touching on the most personal experiences. However, I appreciate the fact that Koland used the blueprint of the mainstream newlywed comedy in a way that defies expectations and focused attention on those characters that truly deserved it, i.e. characters like those from an indie film. The idea of combining two types of humour (crude and “heartwarming”) and two types of acting (comedic excess and intimate understatement) is not the apex of creative inventiveness, but it is a change that counts for something among the dozens of cookie-cutter romcom productions that are out there. 60% (07.10.2013)

I told myself that Tyler Labine wouldn't be a good choice, but luckily he dies right at the beginning. The role still suits him - he will appear in the movie again. It's not unnecessarily heart-wrenching farewell to a dead friend, it's not unnecessarily exaggerated, although, it's true that when it comes to the comedic aspect, it simply doesn't work. However, I like that the creators are trying it differently than just traditionally. A little more skill, a few more ideas, a better sense of humor and it will be perfect. (03.12.2013)