I saw Four Dead Batteries at the Garden State Film Festival where it deservedly won the Audience Award. Going into it, I had no expectations whatsoever as the poster and the tagline really didn't tell me what I was going to see. The film follows the exploits of 4 improv comedians - the titular Four Dead Batteries (each wearing T-shirts on stage that say "D," "AA" or the like) - through their varied relationships with women. The four guys are the archetypes of the American male - the sort-of-happily married guy, the womanizer, the hopeless romantic whose fiancée dumped him, and the schmuck having an affair because he's in a dead-end marriage. As the film unspools, these four idiots (and I say that in the fondest way possible) do their best to manage their love lives while at the same time trying to drum up audiences for their improv shows. The improv is funny as hell, but the film really shines in the small character moments and terrific dialogue. Too say anything in detail would spoil so much of the movie that I just won't do it. While one or two scenes push the limit of plausibility just a touch, the rest of the film deals in a realistic, funny way with the perils of male-female relationships.
In my own humble opinion, the Martinez brothers have crafted a funny and - most importantly - INTELLIGENT sex comedy that I feel makes them the real heirs apparent to Woody Allen. That's heady company indeed, but these guys are the true sons of Woody - more so than Hollywood's pick, Edward Burns.
In my own humble opinion, the Martinez brothers have crafted a funny and - most importantly - INTELLIGENT sex comedy that I feel makes them the real heirs apparent to Woody Allen. That's heady company indeed, but these guys are the true sons of Woody - more so than Hollywood's pick, Edward Burns.