Author: Brian

I wonder what I would think of this film if I didn’t live 25 minutes from Xenia, where it is set but not filmed. I have a really hard time getting past that single fact: this is filmed in a place that bears little resemblance to Xenia.

I confess that I am nothing but a bundle of biases and that my interest in the picture waned on finding out it was a musical; I also admit that my interest then waxed on finding out the music was written by members of Cincinnati indie band The National. I wonder what my opinion would have been had I not known that. Would I have appreciated the music as much, or listened to it less closely?

I wouldn’t say I bought the hype necessarily, but I was disappointed I didn’t like this movie more in the end. While it stands taller than most comic movies these days, I have my criticisms.

This movie is in a hurry.

This movie was perfectly pleasant.

I spent this entire movie thinking, “boy, this feels just like a Judd Apatow movie. What ever happened to that subgenre of R-rated comedy?”