David Schwimmer makes a bold choice with this ambitious, if not entirely seamless psychodrama. Starting out as a hyperactive life-in-crisis movie, like a more melancholy, introspective Fight Club, it swaps horses in midstream with a shocking twist that will likely alienate any viewers seduced by seeing the Friends star’s face on its promo imagery. Those willing to follow first-time director Jack Begert down the rabbit hole into the film’s surprising second half — which may seem completely unrelated at first, but soon reveals the film’s deeper themes of opioid use and the butterfly effects of addiction — will find it strangely satisfying.
In light of recent events involving Schwimmer’s former co-star Matthew Perry, Begert’s film has acquired an unintentionally meta level that, sadly, only underscores its main theme, which is the human cost of the pursuit of happiness in contemporary America. Schwimmer plays Martin Solomon, a screenwriter...
In light of recent events involving Schwimmer’s former co-star Matthew Perry, Begert’s film has acquired an unintentionally meta level that, sadly, only underscores its main theme, which is the human cost of the pursuit of happiness in contemporary America. Schwimmer plays Martin Solomon, a screenwriter...
- 2/1/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Maybe you’re vexed by the official description for Little Death, the debut feature from music-video director Jack Begert. Maybe you want to know more than, “A middle-aged filmmaker on the verge of a breakthrough. Two kids in search of a lost backpack. A small dog a long way from home.” Maybe you’re itching to search for a more detailed plot description.
Take my word for it: don’t.
The worst thing about Little Death, which Begert co-wrote with Dani Goffstein, is that the best things about it are all spoilers. Please excuse some vagueness in the interest of your best possible moviegoing experience.
David Schwimmer, fully leaning into the self-pitying act he honed as Ross Geller, plays Martin, the middle-aged filmmaker. Martin’s life is, as he tells his therapist, “meaningless.” A long-suffering TV writer, Martin’s finally got an autobiographical script in the works, but wokeism threatens his masterpiece.
Take my word for it: don’t.
The worst thing about Little Death, which Begert co-wrote with Dani Goffstein, is that the best things about it are all spoilers. Please excuse some vagueness in the interest of your best possible moviegoing experience.
David Schwimmer, fully leaning into the self-pitying act he honed as Ross Geller, plays Martin, the middle-aged filmmaker. Martin’s life is, as he tells his therapist, “meaningless.” A long-suffering TV writer, Martin’s finally got an autobiographical script in the works, but wokeism threatens his masterpiece.
- 1/30/2024
- by Lena Wilson
- The Film Stage
A still from In ‘The Summers’ by Alessandra Lacorazza (Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
- 1/26/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
There’s a perplexing choice at the heart of “Little Death,” directed by Jack Begert, best known for his work in music videos. That choice is essentially to make two very different movies and smash them together. If you squint closely, you can see the thematic throughlines between them, both stories about addiction told through different prisms, but while one is grating, the other is deftly told. You just have to make it through the first to get to the one that is more elegantly executed.
Begert is primarily a music video director with credits like Olivia Rodrigo’s recent “get him back!” and Jack Harlow’s Fergie-sampling “First Class” under his belt. The hyperactive visual style of that genre is on full display in the first half of “Little Death,” which is narrated by a depressed, misogynistic television writer named Martin played by David Schwimmer and, eventually, Gaby Hoffmann,...
Begert is primarily a music video director with credits like Olivia Rodrigo’s recent “get him back!” and Jack Harlow’s Fergie-sampling “First Class” under his belt. The hyperactive visual style of that genre is on full display in the first half of “Little Death,” which is narrated by a depressed, misogynistic television writer named Martin played by David Schwimmer and, eventually, Gaby Hoffmann,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Esther Zuckerman
- Indiewire
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