Where I Watched it: iTunes

English Audio Description?: Yes

Owen kline’s directorial debut is a bold statement for the kinds of stories he wants to tell moving forward. The son of Kevin Kline, who does have an acting background himself, has decided to shoot for this john Waters-lite style. He’s not quite subversive enough to go full Pink Flamingos, but tehre’s something about kline’s adoration for garbage, and featuring a character who believes the only way to ever be a true artist is to start from the bottom.

Kline is saying a lot here, not just about artists, but possibly even himself. As the privileged son of Kevin Kline, he likely had many easy opportunities handed to him, but instead of pulling a Colin Hanks or Dakota Johnson, he has slid into the directors chair, and chosen this bizarre A24 title to kickstart his career.

At the start of the film, I wasn’t really sure what I was in for, but by the end, I felt like this was someone who had grown up on Waters, and loved a lot of these 90’s/00’s indies like pecker, I Shot Andy Warhol, and American Splendor. It’s not my favorite film of the year, but often with debut films, we are just hoping to get an idea of where the director may be headed next. And, I’ll say that I’m at least moderately interested in seeing more of Kline’s perspective.

The audio description here works well, focusing on the oddities the film presents. Not just in things like the disaster of an apartment he lives in, but also describing the comics our characters are drawing. Since this film is based on people trying to create visual art, it’s so important to translate that to us. Without that, I’d have no idea what this kid was up to.

This isn’t for everyone, but if you like weird and offbeat comedies, maybe this will be your thing.

Final Grade: B-