46
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThere's genuine pain at the core of Heidecker's character - or at least a numbness where the pain used to reside - but the film is keen on obscuring it.
- 91The PlaylistChristopher BellThe PlaylistChristopher BellIt's a meaty film, filled with ideas unobscured by any generic narrative string, a move that shows not only the confidence of the director but his respect of the audience. This is one that'll have people talking.
- 88Slant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierSlant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierTim Heidecker's Swanson does not amuse us in spite of the pity he inspires but because of it.
- 70VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangFor a catalog of aggressively stupid, socially deviant male behavior, Rick Alverson's cheekily titled The Comedy is not without a certain subversive intelligence.
- 63New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithPicture "Raging Bull" with a sleazy prep from the Brooklyn hipsteropolis of Williamsburg, and you'll get the idea of The Comedy, a character study that tries to make the revolting compelling.
- The anomie of entitlement pushed to poisonous extremes is the basis of this provocation, which is as frustrating as it is intriguing.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceThere's not a false note in the film, but maybe there's a difference between accuracy and truth.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe Comedy pretends to be a satire of entitlement, but it's made in a style so indulgent that the whole film feels entitled in the extreme.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe movie may critique its antihero, but it also offers just one more venue in which he's allowed to wallow - while we pay his way.
- 20Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfUnlike a truly daring movie like Lars von Trier's "The Idiots" - about a gang of clever jerks who pretend to be mentally retarded - The Comedy never musters an articulate indictment, nor does it have much to say on the subject of free-floating fatigue.