Do you remember what Seinfeld was like when the show first began? There'd be the regular story with Jerry and Elaine and George and Kramer, and then there'd be little snippets of Jerry's stand-up comedy where the jokes would somehow related to story. If you can imagine that kind of thing, about 90 minutes long and starring a sad and pathetic loser who isn't funny at all
that's The Jimmy Show.
Frank Whaley is Jimmy, a working class guy who takes care of his invalid grandmother. He's got a job at the local supermarket, a girlfriend (Carla Gugino) he just knocked up and after a series of get-rich-quick schemes, he's settled on trying to make it as a stand-up comedian. And while the story is inconsistent in most ways, the one, grinding, inescapable constant is that Jimmy is a loser. And not a funny loser or a quirky loser or a hard luck loser, just a loser. There's nothing really interesting about Jimmy and the only empathetic aspect to the character is his commitment to caring for his grandmother. The movie follows Jimmy through marriage, having a daughter, divorce, menial employment of one form or another and through it all, Jimmy is going to open mic night at comedy clubs for his 10 minutes in the spotlight.
This movie is adapted for a stage play and I can only hope that there was initially some point to the story. I hope the play tried to say something about standing on the lower rungs of the Ladder of Life and never being able to take a step up, because there's nothing like that in the movie. Jimmy is a loser and, except for a moment of happiness when his daughter is born, his life sucks and just keeps on sucking. But it's not that his life is bad because he's unlucky or there's something wrong with him. It just sucks.
I can only imagine the moments when Jimmy is on stage as a comedian are supposed to provide some insights into who and why he is what he is, but it doesn't do any of that. He starts out as just a desperately unfunny wannabe, but quickly morphs into this Spalding Gray-ish monologist who just talks about his life. But there's never any connection between what he's saying on stage and what's going on in his life, except it all just sucks.
The movie also suffers from an inability to maintain a consistent tone. Sometimes Jimmy is a somewhat dull witted guy and then sometimes he's a bitter smartass. Sometimes Jimmy is completely passive and then sometimes he's confrontational and in control. There are moments when we're supposed to think his daughter is sort of the cornerstone to his life, yet the girl is absent from long stretches of the film.
Sometimes when you watch a bad movie, you can still imagine how someone at some point thought it might be good. One of the worst movies I've ever seen was Megaforce, starring Barry Bostwick, about a high-tech military squad battling the forces of evil. I actually talked my brother into going to see that instead of, I believe, Rocky III. But even with Megaforce, I can imagine someone sitting around saying "It's got laser guns and explosions and a flying motorcycle. It'll be so cool!" I can't imagine anyone sitting around and saying "Boy, people are really going to enjoy The Jimmy Show".
Frank Whaley is Jimmy, a working class guy who takes care of his invalid grandmother. He's got a job at the local supermarket, a girlfriend (Carla Gugino) he just knocked up and after a series of get-rich-quick schemes, he's settled on trying to make it as a stand-up comedian. And while the story is inconsistent in most ways, the one, grinding, inescapable constant is that Jimmy is a loser. And not a funny loser or a quirky loser or a hard luck loser, just a loser. There's nothing really interesting about Jimmy and the only empathetic aspect to the character is his commitment to caring for his grandmother. The movie follows Jimmy through marriage, having a daughter, divorce, menial employment of one form or another and through it all, Jimmy is going to open mic night at comedy clubs for his 10 minutes in the spotlight.
This movie is adapted for a stage play and I can only hope that there was initially some point to the story. I hope the play tried to say something about standing on the lower rungs of the Ladder of Life and never being able to take a step up, because there's nothing like that in the movie. Jimmy is a loser and, except for a moment of happiness when his daughter is born, his life sucks and just keeps on sucking. But it's not that his life is bad because he's unlucky or there's something wrong with him. It just sucks.
I can only imagine the moments when Jimmy is on stage as a comedian are supposed to provide some insights into who and why he is what he is, but it doesn't do any of that. He starts out as just a desperately unfunny wannabe, but quickly morphs into this Spalding Gray-ish monologist who just talks about his life. But there's never any connection between what he's saying on stage and what's going on in his life, except it all just sucks.
The movie also suffers from an inability to maintain a consistent tone. Sometimes Jimmy is a somewhat dull witted guy and then sometimes he's a bitter smartass. Sometimes Jimmy is completely passive and then sometimes he's confrontational and in control. There are moments when we're supposed to think his daughter is sort of the cornerstone to his life, yet the girl is absent from long stretches of the film.
Sometimes when you watch a bad movie, you can still imagine how someone at some point thought it might be good. One of the worst movies I've ever seen was Megaforce, starring Barry Bostwick, about a high-tech military squad battling the forces of evil. I actually talked my brother into going to see that instead of, I believe, Rocky III. But even with Megaforce, I can imagine someone sitting around saying "It's got laser guns and explosions and a flying motorcycle. It'll be so cool!" I can't imagine anyone sitting around and saying "Boy, people are really going to enjoy The Jimmy Show".