User Reviews

The movie starts with the potentially funny, but not original premise of a very simple person navigating the world and stumbling into various outrageously fantastic situations. Think "Forest Gump" or "Being There". But this movie goes nowhere quickly. The main character gives the exact same childlike, mute performance throughout the movie. The idea that anyone can attain such attention and fame without ever uttering a word quickly becomes unbelievable and certainly not funny. At first the movie is about the bizarre world of the movie industry and all it's oddities but after they run out of cliches to exploit, they move on to political and corporate plot scenarios. This is where the movie gets old fast. The movie just seems to come to an end with no plot climax whatsoever. It's a shame since Charlie Day is very talented. But it doesn't show here.

So much talent. It seemed like this wasn't really done for the audience. Much like Movie 43 was really written for Hollywood insiders. But at least some of the bits in Movie 43 were funny.

This was all one bit, and if you don't like that bit, you won't like the movie. We didn't like the bit.

As usual, Ken's over the top acting is a huge miss in this one. With him being the central character, it's tough to swallow.

Also, the movie doesn't take advantage of Charlie Day's biggest asset, his voice. Keeping him mute for nearly the entire movie is a crime.

Adrian's work was pretty well done.

Ray played Ray Liotta as usual, RIP.

Edie was great.

Cameo by Jason playing Jason Bateman with a tennis ball cannon was excellent.

I saw Fool's Paradise, starring Charlie Day-Pacific Rim: Uprising, the Horrible Bosses movies; Ken Jeong-My Spy, the Hangover movies; Kate Beckinsale-the Underworld movies, Pearl Harbor and Adrien Brody-The French Dispatch, Predators.

This movie is written, directed and stars Charlie Day, whom I think can be really funny. The problem is that he is not here. Charlie plays 2 roles. The first is a troublesome actor that won't come out of his trailer-he later commits suicide, and it's played for laughs, yep, real funny. The second is a headcase from a mental hospital that a movie producer discovers-since he looks like their actor-and tries to replace their dead actor with him. Charlie-as the mental patient-doesn't talk and barely understands direction. Ken plays the agent that represents Charlie and Kate & Adrien play fellow actors. I guess the joke is that Charlie can become famous without talking but most of the gags are not funny, they are just stupid. An example: silent Charlie marries a star and they adopt 3 Asian children. There are lots of cameos-I guess they owed Charlie a favor-including Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, Edie Falco, John Malkovich, Common and Ray Liotta.

It's rated R for language, drug use, alcohol use and sexual content-no nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 37 minutes.

It's not one that I'd buy on DVD, or even rent. If you really want to see it, I'd wait until it comes to tv.

Most of the reviews are negative here and I truly think it's because most people will probably not be able to understand the true story they are telling here, at least on the first go.

Because if you do, this film has it's quirks and witty moments of expose' which are entertaining and even daring to explore.

To an extent, this is an allegory of life through the aperture of fame and wealth through filmmaking and Hollywood lifestyle (a film about film behind the scenes in real life and the juxtapose that comes with the irredeemable escape from our own life of imitation of art (and vice versa), what politics say and how society reacts and influences the outcomes of those just wanting to be people who just want to live and let live.

The only words of dialogue the main character says throughout the whole film are 'I love you too'. Because all the rest is pointless noise made by the world around who who are actually there for their own self.

Once you realize that, the story shifts quickly.

I truly felt I started to enjoy the film so much more once I understood what was actually being said, which only came towards the end of the film when wanting to find out already what is the story and the deal with our the main character and why he is this way.

Which doesn't get answered clearly for a reason.

This contemplation should send you thinking about what they actually intended to tell in a film that seems silly at times, but makes you question why, and delivers an allegory to the current state of reality we actually live in.

Good Luck.

Greetings again from the darkness. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is in its 18th year, having aired 165 episodes, not counting endless reruns in syndication. A huge part of the series' success is the comedic talent and writing ability of Charlie Day. That success has put him in a position to direct his first feature film, and how does he proceed? By attempting to skewer and mock the same Hollywood system that has made him rich and famous. Fortunately for Day, many of his friends have joined in, and most of the mocking falls pretty flat. So, he hasn't jeopardized the likelihood that he will, in fact, work in this town again.

Our first glimpse of Day's character is in a mental hospital where he has been diagnosed as non-verbal with "the mind of a Labrador retriever." With no means to pay and no government plan to compensate the hospital, he is unceremoniously dumped on the street. Before trouble strikes, he is picked up by a Hollywood Producer (the late Ray Liotta) due to his striking resemblance to a temperamental and troubled movie star (also played by Day). Despite having no comprehension of what's being asked of him, he ends up with a whirlwind acting career and a new name ... Latte Pronto.

It doesn't take long for us to realize Day has attempted to blend the comic (and silent) genius of Charlie Chaplin with the 'oddity' of Chauncey Gardiner in the Hal Ashby classic BEING THERE (1979). Those friends of Day who make appearances include Jason Sudekis as a big-time director, Common as an action hero, John Malkovich as a backroom power broker, Jason Bateman, Glenn Howerton, Edie Falco as a super-agent, Mary Elizabeth Ellis (Day's real life wife), and Dean Norris. In more substantive roles we find Adrien Brody as an alcoholic actor prone to wild times behind the wheel, Kate Beckinsale as a movie star attracted to Day's overnight fame, and Ken Jeong as Lenny, the struggling publicist who latches onto Latte Pronto as his only client.

Day certainly has a knack for physical comedy and it's on full display during his "Wipeout" dance, however, without the use of his trademark scratchy, whiny voice, he lacks the charm of Chaplin (who doesn't?). More significantly, the script lacks the sharpness needed to effectively poke fun at the lure of celebrity, and the greed, self-interest, and insecurities tied to the fluff of Hollywood. There is an attempt to make this about friendship and human connection, but maybe what it does best is remind us how most people would rather talk, and are therefore attracted to a listener ... even if he doesn't understand the words coming out of their mouth.

In theaters beginning May 12, 2023.

So Charlie Day wrote this thing and I have a feeling it was suppose to be something else. I was hoping his character was going to be a Charlie Chaplin-esk dude in modern era where he doesn't speak but he has the whit to progress his story.

Turns out he doesn't do anything. He doesn't advance at all. Other characters advance his story and its so boring. There's no jokes, it's all crap. He brought in every single cast member from Always Sunny.

I think he is trying to be the new Adam Sandler of pushing crap but that's not a good role model.

The movie has no classic 3 acts either, it just ends with him saying "i love you too" to the dusche that used him for personal gain without contributing nothing to his own well being.

Nope, this was garbage. I think he would have done all his friends a favor by not including them because now their career is tained with this piece of trash of a movie.

Absolutely love majority of the actors in this and a huge Charlie Day fan however this was just not great at all. Such an incredible cast, waiting for this thinking another great comedy is finally coming out for us when it's primarily a serious movie market at the moment but this was not good. The story was just absolutely bizarre, it has comical scenes however it's not really worth your time sadly. Ken honestly ruins this, his character just drains you from the beginning, really wish he wasn't cast then it would have maybe have been a bit more watchable. What a waste of actors 😭. Expected so much better.

This movie is brilliant. Yes it requires a bit of suspension of disbelief. Yes you have to accept the reality of this universe to enjoy the film, but how is that different from every marvel movie being gobbled up?? You can suspend your disbelief for 100 Spider-Mans, just do yourself a favor and buy into this world from the beginning. Let yourself enjoy this movie.

I have a theory that anyone with adhd (like myself) will not only enjoy, but love this movie. The ambling tumble weed of a plot is incredibly refreshing. The rejection of the exact same movie structure we've seen thousands of times (and can now predict in our sleep) is done with self-aware humor and some genuinely decent commentary on the industry.

Not to mention for a film rejecting traditions in certain ways, it's almost balanced out with homages to classic films throughout. From the live scoring, to the Indiana-Jones-esque relationship he has with his hat, to the obvious physical humor referencing the silent film era as a silent character. It's simultaneously paying respects to, and challenging the entire art form of film in itself.

And Charlie's performance! And Ken Jeong! As well as the rest of the cast. Fantastic. You understand exactly what Charlie's character is feeling and thinking. The chemistry between ken and Charlie is more than believable, and downright lovable.

Ken is charming and carries so much as a scene partner. Working with someone who can't speak any lines is obviously a challenge and he delivered everything so smoothly it helped both characters be understood not just his own. Their chemistry was crucial to the movie working, and in my opinion it couldn't have been done better.

Not every single movie has to center a romance. This one not only centers an platonic friendship, it makes a whole point to show how shallow and detached forced relationship story lines in a film can be by having him marry a famous and beautiful woman because she tells him to. That feeling of "this is stupid why would they have him get married and adopt kids for no reason? That makes no sense"- your gut reaction may give you at first to the marriage, is exactly how it feels when gratuitous romance plot lines are added to films where they aren't needed! Like that uncomfortable 'why are they doing this' feeling IS making the point!

Then there's the fact that this film is absolutely packed with cameos, from Charlie's days wife Mary Elizabeth, and Artimis playing his make up team, to Jason sudeikis, and Bateman, even John Malkovich is there and then Common, and that's just scraping the surface.

Charlie Day has given interviews explaining the main character as someone who "wants nothing" and that concept on its own goes against every single lesson taught in every single acting class. Actors are trained on the absolute basics of knowing what your character wants, informing what behavior to use to obtain that want.

What Charlie has done here, is literally create a character stripped of any opinion or wants. Which leaves only the raw human existence and ends up revealing something undeniably true. Even a person without a single want in the world still has NEEDS.

He still needs a place to sleep and food to eat. He needs people to help him. He needs physical safety and autonomy. This realization at the end is paralleled verbally by ken jongs character, discovering something similar for himself. He needs true unconditional love too. He needs human connection more than anything else, and so does Charlie's character regardless of what he does or doesn't want.

This movie feels made for neurodivergent people. Sometimes this is exactly what life feels like. You're getting shuffled and pushed around and you don't understand what people want from you or why they are so concerned with things that don't or shouldn't matter. The way you can feel so misunderstood by people, it's like you might as well not be speaking at all, or you have literal nonverbal episodes. This movie didn't feel like it was mocking non verbal people, and it could have gone in that direction.

Like I said before, it requires a bit of reality suspension. But if we can all be okay with a talking raccoon, or a tree that only speaks in its own name, we can survive a mysterious condition that prevents this man from talking.

In my personal neurodivergent opinion, It felt like a good representation of what it feels like to operate in a world where you feel misunderstood, and you don't understand it back just as much. But at the end of the day we all need love and support, even if our wants don't align with most people or make sense to them.

There are moments in the film where Charlie's character is visibly uncomfortable, and doesn't have much bodily autonomy throughout. He's shuffled and dragged and posed scene to scene. He's literally threatened by knife point over and over, and even hung with a rope at one point. The willingness to go along with what's happening to him, even when he is uncomfortable, points out his NEED for human connection, even if it's an instinct he doesn't understand, he frequently allows himself to be put in places he doesn't want to be because of the need for other people. He quite literally runs off more than once from being scared or confused, so any time he chooses to stay its saying a lot without words. He could have jumped out of bed and run away when Kate asked him to marry her, he could have jogged away any time before or during the wedding, and he chose to stay where he was.

He doesn't have the want to sleep on a park bench, but he has the need for familiarity, and the one thing that can trump that for him is human connection. When those human connections are lost he flees or attempts to. Building this paradoxically complex/simple character.

This movie is brilliant, ignore the people who don't get it. They probably want to see another movie where a team of handsome men in tights put aside their differences and band together to fight a bad guy, one forced pun punch line at a time. Or maybe a horror movie where a family moves into an old farm house for cheap and mysterious things start happening?

Aren't we all sick of the same 6 movies being made over and over?

Like don't you WANT to see something that's never been done before? That challenges the form? That tries something new?

I think Charlie Day put a lot of himself into this character. He seems like someone's who's remained fairly grounded, and a little weird, and true to himself despite his fame and success.

He is a delight to watch in this film, and it is well done. Don't go into this movie expecting something you've seen before, go in ready for something more creative. And it is hilarious, yet heartwarming fits in there somehow too. 10/10 for sure. Anyone who rated this low is either boring, neurotypical or both.