Humor Me (film)
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''Humor Me'' is a 2017 American
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
written and directed by
Sam Hoffman Sam Hoffman is a producer, director and writer who has created content in film, television and on digital media. Hoffman wrote and directed the film Humor Me (film), ''Humor Me'', starring Jemaine Clement, Elliott Gould and Ingrid Michaelson. The ...
. The film stars
Jemaine Clement Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement (born 10 January 1974) is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy TV series t ...
,
Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. Gould's breakthrough role was in the film ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The ...
,
Ingrid Michaelson Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson song), The Way I Am" and her 2014 single "Girls Chase Boys", both of which achieved success ...
,
Annie Potts Anne Hampton Potts (born October 28, 1952) is an American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for '' Corvette Summer'' (1978) and won a Genie Award for '' Heartaches'' (1981), before appearing in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), ''Pretty ...
,
Priscilla Lopez Priscilla Lopez is an American singer, dancer, and actress. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of Diana Morales in ''A Chorus Line''. She has had the distinction of appearing in two Broadway landmarks: one of its greatest hits, t ...
,
Bebe Neuwirth Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and two Drama Desk Awards. ...
and Maria Dizzia. The film was released on January 12, 2018, by
Shout! Studios Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
.


Plot

Nate Kroll is a playwright who suddenly loses his job, wife Nirit and home. With no other options, he moves in with his eccentric father, Bob, who lives in a retired people's community. After barely settling in, only 24 hours there, Nate's dad gets him a job at the home in the laundry. Soon after being hired to fold towels, his retired military boss Ellis fires him. Wandering through a community area, Nate comes across The Cranberry Bog Players, a small group of residents planning to put on The Mikado. Bob's girlfriend Connie, sharing a spliff with Nate, explains she started using to combat the effects of chemo. She met Bob when he was doing his weekly volunteering at the cancer ward. It was probably a habit he picked up from when he was visiting his wife, who didn't survive breast cancer. She proposes Nate help direct the play. At the preliminary meeting, four women are present, none too sold on, or interested in the chosen work. Dee is one of the residents, and her daughter Allison, lives there, out-of-place, like Nate. She is complimentary of his work, and invites him to dinner at her mom's. He finds out she's there after detoxing in rehab, she's a musician and is thinking of moving to Seattle, far from New Jersey, to teach music. Helen, one of the Players, takes an interest in Nate. He skillfully dodges her, pointing out Ellis's interest. Leaving her place on a Vespa, Ellis takes chase on a golf cart. On the way, Nate picks up Allison and they give him the slip. He has managed to convince Helen to give Ellis a chance, which he is grateful for. Time goes on, Nate starts going with his dad power-walking, he gives his latest manuscript to Allison to proof and the play rehearsals progress. He has nightly Skype calls with his son Gabe in France, and finally gets some dental work done. The Cranberry Bog Players, upon finding a video of Nate's successful screenplay, have a viewing at Bob's. It is basically the story of his parents dealing with her cancer. Bob angrily shuts it off, shortly needing to be rushed to the hospital. While waiting for him to wake from a coma, Connie hands Nate the key to a storage locker full of his mom's things. Seeing Nate that night at his dad's, Allison confronts him about quitting. Telling him the new screenplay is good, although unfinished, she accuses him of being the reason why it is incomplete. At the hospital, Nate and Connie take turns telling jokes to Bob, and can see he's reacting to them. He slowly comes out of the coma. Returning to the home, Nate asks if he may come back, making adjustments. At the performance, we see that clever slapstick jokes with sexual innuendo have been added to the routine. The producer who pulled out of his last play praises the performance. And his soon-to-be-ex also has come, bringing Gabe. She's made money in France, says she'll get divorce papers written up with joint custody, and he introduces his son to Allison. The close starts with a playbill of the opening of Nate's recently opened show. Then we see the home, first from Gabe finishing a piano lesson with Allison, then they walk by ladies in dress rehearsal for a new performance, Ellis is with his lady, and they go through the changing area to reach the pool. Bob, Nate and Gabe cannonball into it.


Cast

*
Jemaine Clement Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement (born 10 January 1974) is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy TV series t ...
as Nate Kroll *
Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. Gould's breakthrough role was in the film ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The ...
as Bob Kroll *
Ingrid Michaelson Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson song), The Way I Am" and her 2014 single "Girls Chase Boys", both of which achieved success ...
as Allison *
Annie Potts Anne Hampton Potts (born October 28, 1952) is an American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for '' Corvette Summer'' (1978) and won a Genie Award for '' Heartaches'' (1981), before appearing in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), ''Pretty ...
as Dee *
Priscilla Lopez Priscilla Lopez is an American singer, dancer, and actress. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of Diana Morales in ''A Chorus Line''. She has had the distinction of appearing in two Broadway landmarks: one of its greatest hits, t ...
as Connie Andrews *
Bebe Neuwirth Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and two Drama Desk Awards. ...
as C.C. Rudin * Maria Dizzia as Nirit Gerb-Kroll *
Joey Slotnick Joseph Slotnick (born October 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for roles in ''Twister'' (1996), '' Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Elevator'' (2011), '' The Single Guy'' (1995–1997), and '' Nip/Tuck'' (2003–2006). Life and career Slotnick ...
as Zimmerman * Willie C. Carpenter as Ellis *Le Clanché du Rand as Helen *
Rosemary Prinz Rosemary Prinz (born January 4, 1931) is an American actress. She is known for playing the role of Penny Hughes on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (1956–1968, 1985, 1986–1987, 1998, 2000). She also played Amy on '' First Love'' (1 ...
as Gert * Erich Bergen as Randy Kroll *Cade Lappin as Gabe Kroll *Ray Iannicelli as Marv * Mike Hodge as Alan *
Malachy McCourt Malachy Gerard McCourt (September 20, 1931 – March 11, 2024) was an American-Irish actor, writer and politician. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Limerick, McCourt appeared in several films and soap operas, including ''The Molly Maguires'', ' ...
as David *
Tibor Feldman Tibor Feldman (born April 25, 1947) is an American actor, having played roles in movies, television shows, television commercials, and stage plays. He has appeared in television dramas including: ''Law & Order'', ''Conviction'', ''The Sopranos ...
as Ed *
Bernie McInerney Bernie McInerney (born December 4, 1936) is an American character actor. Personal life McInerney grew up in Delaware where his father was an auditor with the DuPont Company. McInerney came to acting at a young age, announcing the World Series d ...
as Doctor


Release

The film premiered at the
Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episodi ...
on June 16, 2017. The film was released on January 12, 2018, by
Shout! Studios Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
.


Critical reception

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 70% based on 20 reviews, and an average rating of 4.87/10. On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.


References


External links

* * {{IMDb title, 5658242, Humor Me 2017 films 2017 comedy films American comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films