He's unlikable but entertaining.
Listen Up Phillip
Grade: B+
Director: Alex Ross Perry (The Color Wheat)
Screenplay: Perry
Cast: Jason Schwartzman (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Elisabeth Moss (Give Him to the Greek)
Runtime: 108 min.
by John DeSando
"I'm not 'successful,' I'm notable. And I'm not even notable—noteworthy, at best." Phillip (Jason Schwartzman)
Such is the direct, diffident, and off-putting novelist Phillip (Jason Schwartzman) of Listen Up Phillip. As the quote suggests after seeing this entertaining film, he is so solipsistic as to think only of himself anyway. But unlike in the case of cranky Ben Stiller’s Greenberg, I am fascinated by this misanthrope who keeps getting lovely girlfriends and interesting acquaintances. Sounds like Woody Allen to me!
Ashley Kane (Elisabeth Moss), a successful young photographer, lives with this sourpuss or rather endures his withering criticism of her and himself. Indeed, he brings self loathing to a new level. I like that honest but unkind attitude because I often have those thoughts but would never be as incorrect as to announce them (Ibsen’s Wild Duck warns against total honesty—we all need a basic lie about ourselves). When my friends and I have a rollicking good time, it’s mostly over sardonic assessments of ourselves, so I identify.
Jonathan Pryce is priceless as the once great Jewish author, Ike Zimmerman (both authors remind me of the anarchic, brilliant Phillip Roth; think of Ghost Writer). He takes Phillip under his wing, but he also has resentments masked by his equally blunt manner (the two are a great match, word for bitter word).
As in Roth’s and Woody Allen’s world, NYC is an ever present character. The authors try to avoid its magnetic influence by vacating to write. For them, the city is a boon for creativity but a failure for production.
Witty writer/director Alex Ross Perry’s Listen Up Phillip is as much about fulfilling one’s artistic ambitions and making friends as it is about publishing. Nothing in NYC is easy, and if you’re a narcissistic author, it’s downright brutal. As Ashley tells Phillip, “It’s hot, you being mean.” Only in NYC could being mean get girls.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
