3 Rambos out of 5
You Might as Well Live is a comedy directed by Simon Ennis and playing all week at The Bloor Cinema, AMC Yonge & Dundas and Canada Square. Much like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Rocky and Max, it’s the story of a maladjusted outsider trying to win respect from a world that loathes, misunderstands and abuses him.
In this case, Robert Mutt, is accused of sexual perversion by his neighbours and of being a douchebag by just about everyone else. He has just been thrown out of the mental hospital, where he was happy, and forced back into society, where he is not. Under the guidance of his bohemian best friend, he has a vision of his baseball playing hero, Clinton Manitoba, who tells Robert what he needs to be a real somebody: A girl, some money and a championship ring. The movie is about Robert’s quest to get these.
He’s clueless and most of the laughs come from the characters around him. They’re all just as screwed up as Robert Mutt but, unlike him, most are frankly malicious. Without them, I doubt that Robert Mutt is interesting enough to drive a whole movie. He’s just too out of it. He does very little that makes me think that he really isn’t a douchebag.
Most of these outsider-type flicks have a character who has some sort of philosophy about the world. They have a point of view, some homespun wisdom and a driving force. Something you can relate to.
While Robert Mutt has a lot of heart, he lacks any of that. All his thoughts and goals come from someone else, he learns things but never teaches them and, behind the plaid pants and moustache, is too vacant to genuinely like.
The movie corrects this by making his adversaries easy to genuinely hate.
You Might as Well Live could have been a great film if it became as sinister as even a single one of its subplots would allow. It contains enough material, situations and characters to build a whole volume of black comedies. Instead, it veers away from its bleak evil and is a bit of a screwball. When it could deliver a head-but, it simply winks.
The good news is that it could have also been a very bad film. And it’s not. The whole thing is saved because there are some laughs and there is some wit.
Most comedies fail because they put something weird or shocking on the screen and expect it to be funny in and of itself. There’s a naked man, hilarious; A transsexual, let’s all laugh now; A sex club, my ribs are busting.
You Might as Well Live is not above that but, more often than not, it actually makes a joke out of the situation beyond Robert Mutt’s shock and dismay. There is, for example, a naked chase scene that most movies would expect to be funny just because it’s a naked chase scene. In You Might as Well Live it actually culminates in a joke. A good one.
It’s not the the funniest or the best movie of it’s kind and it’s not the first or second one that I’d recommend. But you’re not from Mars and have already seen those movies. If you like this type of flick, it’s probably the best example of the genre currently in theatres and I’d say it’s worth a view. If you don’t have anything else to do.
And, if you see that it’s on cable, hesitate before you change the channel.
