{"id":4637,"date":"2014-03-21T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T04:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smugfilm.com\/?p=4637"},"modified":"2014-04-14T16:01:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-14T20:01:22","slug":"how-to-be-a-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/how-to-be-a-man\/","title":{"rendered":"A Manly Review of \u2018How to Be a Man\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"howtobeaman\"
\n

\nHow to Be a Man<\/a> (2013)
\n<\/b>Directed by Chadd Harbold
\nWritten by Bryan Gaynor, Chadd Harbold, and Gavin McInnes
\nStory by Chadd Harbold
\n85 min.<\/p>\n

Mild spoilers ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n

I love me some Gavin McInnes. From his appearances on Red Eye<\/a>, to his pieces for Taki Mag<\/a>, to his YouTube shorts<\/a>, to his standup<\/a>, to his book<\/a>, to his previous feature-film, The Brotherhood of the Traveling Rants<\/a>, I\u2019m certainly a fan of his work, and a fan of him as a person, too\u2014when I interviewed him<\/a> here <\/b>last year, he was a delight. Sweet and honest and gracious, the polar opposite of what his detractors might expect him to be based on his brash demeanor and polarizing views on all things life. I see him as a living embodiment of the phrase \u2018warts and all\u2019, and an inspiration to anyone who holds honesty as a virtue. A man <\/i>as man \u2018might be and ought to be\u2019, to borrow a Rand-ism.<\/p>\n

All this to say, I have a knot in my stomach as I write this review, because I have a duty to be honest here\u2014a duty as a critic, of course, but also, a duty to Gavin and all that he stands for. He would not want me to sugarcoat my feelings on this film just because I like him. That would not be very manly of me. And so, here goes.<\/p>\n

I did not like this movie.
\n
\nI wanted to like it, of course. And as I found myself not liking it, I really did try my hardest to<\/i> like it, even going so far as to switch off parts of my brain, doing my damnedest to sync to its wavelength, but alas\u2014no dice. It\u2019s not a good movie. But, it\u2019s not entirely without merit. It\u2019s got parts.<\/p>\n

Gavin is a fun guy to watch do anything, so it\u2019s pretty impossible for him to be in a movie and there not be some good parts. As such, let me make it very, very clear that this <\/i>movie is <\/i>worth watching, especially on Netflix Instant. You could do way, way worse on there. And, the issues I have with it, you may not even have. So, if you\u2019d rather just watch it completely blind and have a wholly organic experience, avoid everything underneath this paragraph. I don\u2019t get too spoiler-y, but I break down its flaws pretty thoroughly.<\/p>\n

The main problem with this movie is that it suffers from too-many-days syndrome. A great screenwriting rule of thumb is to tell your story over as few days as possible\u2014the fewer the better. That way, each day matters. John Hughes is great at this\u2014The Breakfast Club<\/a> or Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/a> are obvious examples, but a better example would be Planes, Trains, and Automobiles<\/a>. Try and take a day out of that movie, condensing the events of one into another. You can\u2019t. They’re on the road together for the exact right length of time, and you feel every moment of it. Fuck 3D glasses\u2014giving days this sort of reach-out-and-touch-them quality is one of the best ways to make a film feel truly three-dimensional.<\/p>\n

How to Be a Man\u2019s story is practically begging to be told over a single day, with maybe an epilogue taking place the next morning, but no more than that. If you don\u2019t know anything about the movie, here\u2019s the premise: it\u2019s about a guy who discovers he has breast cancer and will be dead before his pregnant wife gives birth, so he decides to make a whole bunch of short videos around NYC for his son to teach him how to be a man, and hires a college kid to help him do that. Great premise, instantly interesting. But, if days are passing by willy-nilly, and we\u2019re seeing absolutely no change in his health whatsoever, the stakes, which started high initially, become non-existent. The film attempts to rectify this by every once in a while having Gavin say \u201cI\u2019m dying\u201d with a serious face on, but these reminders have no weight.<\/p>\n

If the story had been tweaked to take place over the course of a single day\u2014for instance, maybe this is the last day he will feel fully himself and have enough energy to undertake a project like this, because tomorrow he has to begin intense chemotherapy or something\u2014then the stakes would\u2019ve remained high throughout. A structure like this would\u2019ve benefited the movie immensely, in particular because the story follows the trope of a protagonist going increasingly off the rails into debauchery as the movie goes on, dragging a reluctant wingman with him. Condensing that energy and tension to a single day would have made the downward spiral feel way more rash and suspenseful. Movies like Edmond<\/a> and Roger Dodger<\/a> and Mikey and Nicky<\/a> and Riding the Bullet<\/a> work so well largely for this very reason\u2014you feel like you\u2019re really there, stuck on a fascinating yet uncomfortable ride that you can\u2019t get off of. What\u2019s worse is that, as I was watching it, I kept seeing what scenes they could\u2019ve reordered or slightly tweaked in order to fit them all in one day. There was certainly room for it, had they thought to do it.<\/p>\n

The script is underdeveloped in other areas too. Plot threads are created and abandoned arbitrarily, not in a winking-to-the-audience, deliberately anti-storytelling way, just in an \u2018I don\u2019t know what to do with this subplot but I\u2019m too attached to it to just scrap it\u2019 way\u2014such as with the looming question mark over whether Gavin\u2019s videographer Bryan could possibly be his son. This subplot is given consistent attention and carried very far into the story, then resolved by the videographer deciding he doesn\u2019t actually care. We don\u2019t see him come to any sort of deep realization about this, or find out the reason why he\u2019s decided to feel this way\u2014we\u2019re just told<\/i> he doesn\u2019t care anymore, as though that should be enough for us. It wasn\u2019t a necessary plot line to begin with\u2014their bond means more if they\u2019re just total strangers with no possible relation, because then the videographer is sticking with this unstable guy not out of obligation, but out of genuine fascination, which we, as viewers, can certainly understand\u2014he\u2019s captivating and different, and that\u2019s all he needs to be. Inserting unresolved, half-baked mystery into the equation is gimmicky, and shows a lack of confidence in the material.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just through lines that are sloppily constructed, it’s characters are too\u2014the most glaring example being the wife, who isn\u2019t at all fleshed out and has zero chemistry with Gavin’s character, so much so that it\u2019s unclear why they\u2019re even together. The only moment of togetherness between them that we see is them joking around at a table briefly, and the shot is from far away for no reason, never letting us into their special moment to see any subtle expressions that might make us able understand their attraction. In contrast, all their other interactions involve them arguing in closeup. Shot choice matters\u2014give me something to work with, let me get a sense of them beyond them bickering. Doesn\u2019t have to be much, just has to be there at all.<\/p>\n

Another character that sticks out as thin is Bryan\u2019s roommate. His lines and delivery sound like someone doing a bad impression of someone they dislike, rather than an actual person, as though the joke of Bryan having an uptight roommate is so funny that why even bother constructing an actual character. Same goes for Gavin\u2019s superior at work, his coke dealer at a gay bar, and a handful of other side characters. This is as much a directing problem as it is a script problem, because better line readings\u2014or even better casting\u2014might\u2019ve saved a lot of these bits of dialogue, and made the movie\u2019s world feel populated by people, not just cardboard cutouts.<\/p>\n

I spoke about poor shot choice in regards to Gavin and his wife, but that\u2019s definitely not an isolated issue. The cinematography here is bare-bones, with little to no regard for how best to express what is going on. In most scenes, they get away with it, because after all, this is a comedy, and comedy tends to get cut slack when it comes to visuals. However, there are several scenes that would\u2019ve benefitted greatly from some finesse, such as an action scene that is very Jody Hill-esque, where Gavin bursts through a door and has an intense fight with a whole bunch of strangers\u2014unfortunately, it\u2019s barely shot at all, devoid of the care a director like Hill would\u2019ve taken. It\u2019s a shame, because it had the potential to be a very darkly funny scene\u2014if shot well enough, it could\u2019ve even been iconic. I understand the budget was low on this movie, but it\u2019s not like I\u2019m asking for intense steadicam work\u2014just proper, deliberate shot composition. This sort of thing doesn\u2019t cost a dime\u2014you can do it with pen and paper, or in your head even.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean to suggest through my issues with this film that these guys are lazy or dumb, or didn\u2019t take making their movie seriously\u2014I just think they were a bit out of their depth. Their background together is in making shorts, and that\u2019s a completely different beast from features. They couldn\u2019t be further from each other, as far as storytelling is concerned. It\u2019s like the difference between composing a pop song and composing a concept album\u2014both impressive feats when done well, but incomparable.<\/p>\n

On top of this, there\u2019s a certain degree of slapdash-ness to comedy shorts that is expected and accepted, and clearly they\u2019ve gotten used to the comfort of that. But when you venture into features, all of that goes out the window, and you really should learn the new rules. Some, like David Wain, have made this leap look effortless. Others make the leap look insurmountable, like the sketch group Derrick Comedy, with their mess of a film Mystery Team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gavin\u2019s previous film, The Brotherhood of the Traveling Rants, worked well largely because any residual slapdash-ness from him making shorts was fine, since the style was v\u00e9rit\u00e9 doc, and thus, any aspects that were rough around the edges only served to made it feel more real. Had How to Be a Man been constructed in that same style, it might\u2019ve been just as good, who knows.<\/p>\n

If these guys are bent on venturing away from v\u00e9rit\u00e9 though, my advice would be to carefully study the films of Albert Brooks, because I think Gavin would be perfect for that kind of role and that kind of film structure. Their style of humor is even very similar\u2014the funniness coming from the honest conviction with which they say their lines, rather than from jokiness. Hell, in\u00a0Lost in America<\/a>,\u00a0Brooks even plays a guy who quits an ad agency,\u00a0like Gavin does in this movie.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d also suggest they check out the films of Eric Schaeffer<\/a>. They\u2019re similarly NYC-centric, and much like Gavin, the characters Eric plays in his films are essentially just opportunities for him to be himself and spout his actual opinions amidst semi-autobiographical occurrences. I find all Eric’s work enjoyable, but Fall<\/a> in particular is an absolute masterpiece. It\u2019s not a comedy, but the moments of comedy within it are very natural and beyond intimate, much like Gavin at his best.<\/p>\n

The reason I care about all of this so much, the reason I\u2019ve been so thorough with everything in this review (and trust me, I could\u2019ve gone thorough-er) is that cinema needs<\/i> Gavin. I could watch new YouTube shorts from him till the cows come home, but I see within him potential that exists way beyond that. He\u2019s funny, he can handle drama, and he has a unique voice and brain. Independent cinema is currently devoid of bold personalities like his\u2014in fact, it\u2019s damn near decidedly\u00a0anti-<\/i>personality. Being yourself and having unique thoughts and wearing a lot of different hats is seen as narcissism\u2014a cancer upon the breast of the medium that must be chided into remission. The hate is so great that it pissed Vincent Gallo off so much that he no longer releases the films he makes, just stores them away. That\u2019s how bad it is out there.<\/p>\n

So, Chadd and Bryan and Gavin, please step your game up, and fuck shit up in this awful industry. You\u2019ve got momentum\u2014all you need to do is point it in the right direction and be diligent. I believe in you guys, and look forward to whatever y\u2019all do next.<\/p>\n

2 1\/2 out of 5 Codys.<\/i><\/p>\n

P.S. This is Smug Film’s 200th post! Woo!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"howtobeaman\"
\n

\nHow to Be a Man<\/a> (2013)
\n<\/b>Directed by Chadd Harbold
\nWritten by Bryan Gaynor, Chadd Harbold, and Gavin McInnes
\nStory by Chadd Harbold
\n85 min.<\/p>\n

Mild spoilers ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n

I love me some Gavin McInnes. From his appearances on Red Eye<\/a>, to his pieces for Taki Mag<\/a>, to his YouTube shorts<\/a>, to his standup<\/a>, to his book<\/a>, to his previous feature-film, The Brotherhood of the Traveling Rants<\/a>, I\u2019m certainly a fan of his work, and a fan of him as a person, too\u2014when I interviewed him<\/a> here <\/b>last year, he was a delight. Sweet and honest and gracious, the polar opposite of what his detractors might expect him to be based on his brash demeanor and polarizing views on all things life. I see him as a living embodiment of the phrase \u2018warts and all\u2019, and an inspiration to anyone who holds honesty as a virtue. A man <\/i>as man \u2018might be and ought to be\u2019, to borrow a Rand-ism.<\/p>\n

All this to say, I have a knot in my stomach as I write this review, because I have a duty to be honest here\u2014a duty as a critic, of course, but also, a duty to Gavin and all that he stands for. He would not want me to sugarcoat my feelings on this film just because I like him. That would not be very manly of me. And so, here goes.<\/p>\n

I did not like this movie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1],"tags":[3370,2813,3072,32,3873,115,522,534,536,3870,2811,2812,3054,3639,3055,3638,3637,3871,3874,3868,3872,3113,3867,2817,2940,3869,104,185,3866,2830,3640],"class_list":["post-4637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allposts","category-codysreviews","tag-albert-brooks","tag-bryan-gaynor","tag-chadd-harbold","tag-cody-clarke","tag-derrick-comedy","tag-edmond","tag-eric-schaeffer","tag-fall-1997","tag-fall-movie","tag-ferris-buellers-day-off","tag-gavin-mcinnes","tag-gavin-mcinnes-movie","tag-how-to-be-a-man","tag-how-to-be-a-man-film","tag-how-to-be-a-man-movie","tag-how-to-be-a-man-movie-review","tag-how-to-be-a-man-review","tag-jody-hill","tag-lost-in-america","tag-mikey-and-nicky","tag-mystery-team","tag-planes-trains-and-automobiles","tag-red-eye-gavin-mcinnes","tag-red-eye-with-greg-gutfeld","tag-riding-the-bullet","tag-roger-dodger","tag-smug-film-2","tag-smugfilm","tag-taki-mag","tag-the-breakfast-club","tag-the-brotherhood-of-the-traveling-rants-review-the-brotherhood-of-the-traveling-rants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4637"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4650,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4637\/revisions\/4650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}