Movie Details
Movie: On the Count of Three(2021)
Director: Jerrod Carmichael
Cast: Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Tiffany Haddish
Release date: 13 May 2022
IMDB Rating: 7/10
Languages: English
Duration: 1h 26m
Trailer
Synopsis
At a time when the boundaries between satire and reality are blurring, and when society often imposes far greater moral demands on comedians than on most politicians, it is not surprising that it is precisely comedians who are more and more often embarking on the creation of dramatic ensembles. In recent years, Ricky Gervais has served us on Netflix a brilliantly bittersweet story of a broken man who has to cope with the loss of his wife in the series After Life, Aziz Ansari and his Master Amateur is instead a sober and thoroughly authentic look at dating and relationships of Americans in their thirties, the multi-talented Bo Burnham made the special Inside during the pandemic, which is unparalleled in its craft creativity, brutal honesty and witty aptness, and now actor, comedian and first-time director Jerrod Carmichael comes with a darkly humorous indie dramedy about depression,
On the Count of Three tells the story of two friends, Val (Carmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott), who are at the end of their strength. One carries a series of childhood traumas, and the other suffers from severe depression. Together, they agree to end their lives. But before that happens, they spend one last day together doing what they would never have otherwise dared to do.
The film is similar in structure to road trip pictures, after all, the two main characters spend a lot of time behind the wheel, driving from place to place, and in the process, the viewer gets to know more about their problems. Such as Thelma and Louise, just in a much smaller space and with a slightly different point. Instead of frantically escalating conflicts and events, their adventures keep their feet firmly on the ground most of the time. What is important, however, is that the director Carmichael has correctly estimated the degree to which the mutual spiking between the two heroes and their subsequent messes can lead to humorous moments, but he never trivializes their hardships as such.
On the contrary, the film tries to confront mental health issues head-on, so it does not shy away from often extremely disturbing situations and revelations. It must be added that he also manages to portray both characters quite well even though it has a very modest, but very welcome 84-minute running time. Carmichael manages to say quite a lot in such a small space, but it never gives the impression that he is judging anyone, or pretending that there is a right answer to every question. The human psyche is thus revealed here with a feeling that is not seen even in far more expensive and complex psychological dramas.
Movies like this usually stand and fall on the performances of the leads, the good news is that both Carmichael and Abbott are unexpectedly human, likable, and most of all believable in their desperate – yet different – positions. The cast of secondary characters, which consists of veteran Harry Winkler, actress Tiffany Haddish or JB Smoove, also did a great job, and even though none of them logically got too much space, the pleasantly relaxed atmosphere of waiting for the inevitable end and the decisions of the two heroes were excellent they fell in As far as dramaturgy is concerned, it can be seen that this is a debut, but the motives of the characters are clear most of the time and the gradation also works, but the main point here is still the journey itself, and not necessarily the destination.
In any case, the result is not only a respectable social drama, which deliberately avoids all clichés, can make you laugh and shock, remains unpredictable until the very end, and will resonate with you for several days after viewing. In short, a great little movie that, if you find your way under the right circumstances, you won’t be disappointed. By the appropriate circumstances, I understandably mean that he does not exactly have suicidal tendencies.
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