Listen Up Philip is a black-hearted pisser, a dark comedy that loves the fact that it’s gloomy, sour, and mean. I knew nothing about the plot or intent of this film before viewing it, but had noticed the high Rottentomatoes score and that it had appeared on numerous top 10 lists, with Dargis really giving it a rave review in the NY Times. And I have to say, it’s SO much fun to be taken totally by surprise by a film. This is a small, deeply misanthropic movie, seemingly shot o…n 16mm film (?), with a grainy, jumpy, boozy visual style that in some scenes I wished had been opened up a bit wider. Inspired by the Duplass-mublecore-shakiness aesthetic and graced with more than a pinch of Woody Allen, writer/director Alex Ross Perry (Queen of Earth) has an incredible talent with words, as his screenplay is verbose, witty, and incredibly sarcastic — it’s tons of fun on the ears. The film centers on Philip, an alarmingly cruel writer played with almost too much ease by the great Jason Scwartzman, and I don’t think I’ll be alone in saying that his character reminded me of Max Fischer gone REALLY bad.
His second novel is on the horizon, and he just can’t keep any part of his personal life in order. His girlfriend Ashley (the incredible Elisabeth Moss, who in one scene allows her face to do some of the best acting I’ve seen in a while), is sick of their troubled relationship, and Philip, in a fit of desperation, bolts out of their NYC apartment so that he can spend time at the summer home of his idol, the prolific author Zimmerman, perfectly portrayed by a slimy and dickish Jonathan Pryce, all scotched-up and bitter from a life filled with resentment. That’s all I’m saying about the story, as there’s a lot more that happens than just that, with multiple shifts in perspective which was very unique.
But what I will say is that both Schwartzman and Pryce play too amazing assholes, men who are so full of themselves yet so phenomenally wrongheaded about everything, constantly making poor decisions and saying terrible things to people, that it’s sad to realize that there are probably lots of real-life people like these two guys out there. Listen Up Philip isn’t afraid to be casually mean, and the way that Perry is able to dole out humor in the bleaskest of emotional circumstances speaks to his erudite sensibilites. And I loved how the film ends on such an uncompromising note of despair and personal anguish – it would have been a cheat to finish in any other manner. Also, the dryly hilarious voiceover provided by Eric Bogosian(!) really seals the deal on this playfully mean-spirited look at emotionally stunted men and one woman who can hopefully brake free from all the bull-shit that’s thrown her way.
Podcasting Them Softly 