I sat through a screening of this move at the Tribeca Film Festival for two reasons: Amy Sedaris and Judah Friedlander. Sedaris, sadly, has only one scene to steal. She succeeds. Friedlander, on the other hand, has a leading role and gives a fine performance, but my serious qualms with the story and other characters prevented me from really enjoying it.
Full Grown Men tells the story of Alby Cutrera, a man who somehow married, fathered a son, and reached his thirties without giving up the posturing, tastes, and accouterments of a ten-year-old. How Alby provides for his family, or what exactly his wife saw in him before she kicks him out in the opening scene is never dealt with. What we do know is that Alby is entirely unlikable. His vexatious antics drive the story as he flees his family and coerces his boyhood buddy, Elias (Friedlander), into taking him to Diggityland, the Wallyworld of Florida. We soon learn that Alby was bossy and cruel to Elias when they were children, and his pre-adolescent ribbing continues as they attempt to get acquainted as adults. Elias finally grows tired of the childishness (though not soon enough for me), and Alby finds himself hitchhiking through Florida in one of the most strained, toilsome road movies I've ever seen. Throughout this pointless journey he meets a string of wacky characters (of which Sedaris is one) who are obliged by cliché to push him a few minutes closer to the end of the movie. Eventually, he gets a greatly deserved butt-kicking by a group of midgets (one of the many feeble attempts at getting a laugh), and he still doesn't get the point: nobody likes you, Alby, you need to grow up. In the end we know he's been transformed because he draws a life-like sketch of a handicapped child instead of doodling one of his refrigerator-art comics about how he longs to be a kid again. Then in the final shot, riding a bus home to his family, Alby gives us one last asinine grin before blowing a great, big bubble, presumably from his pouch of big league chew. Oh, Alby, will you ever be a full grown man? Who cares?
Full Grown Men tells the story of Alby Cutrera, a man who somehow married, fathered a son, and reached his thirties without giving up the posturing, tastes, and accouterments of a ten-year-old. How Alby provides for his family, or what exactly his wife saw in him before she kicks him out in the opening scene is never dealt with. What we do know is that Alby is entirely unlikable. His vexatious antics drive the story as he flees his family and coerces his boyhood buddy, Elias (Friedlander), into taking him to Diggityland, the Wallyworld of Florida. We soon learn that Alby was bossy and cruel to Elias when they were children, and his pre-adolescent ribbing continues as they attempt to get acquainted as adults. Elias finally grows tired of the childishness (though not soon enough for me), and Alby finds himself hitchhiking through Florida in one of the most strained, toilsome road movies I've ever seen. Throughout this pointless journey he meets a string of wacky characters (of which Sedaris is one) who are obliged by cliché to push him a few minutes closer to the end of the movie. Eventually, he gets a greatly deserved butt-kicking by a group of midgets (one of the many feeble attempts at getting a laugh), and he still doesn't get the point: nobody likes you, Alby, you need to grow up. In the end we know he's been transformed because he draws a life-like sketch of a handicapped child instead of doodling one of his refrigerator-art comics about how he longs to be a kid again. Then in the final shot, riding a bus home to his family, Alby gives us one last asinine grin before blowing a great, big bubble, presumably from his pouch of big league chew. Oh, Alby, will you ever be a full grown man? Who cares?