Don’t Think Twice (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – When a member of a popular New York City improv troupe gets a huge break, the rest of the group – all best friends – start to realize that not everyone is going to make it after all.

My Take – We have seen quite a number of films around struggling artists waiting to catch a break in the film industry or the music industry. Their ups and downs with a final salvation has been a subject of many filmmakers, but here comedian turned director Mike Birbiglia’ film is a rare one that’s immersed in improv as a subject and not a behind-the-scenes technique for goosing laughs. Actors, improvisers, comics or any kind of artist, really, shouldn’t miss Mike Birbiglia‘s film where he journeys behind the curtain for his second film to put an honest lens on the inherent friction that occurs when artists need each other to succeed but also have their own dreams, egos and pursuits. Working as a heartfelt love letter to all creative performers, particularly those not so young anymore, and still scrambling to make a living in a very competitive field, the film begins with such intense earnestness, providing a dash of wide-eyed historical background and the essential rules of long-form improvisation, that for a moment it comes across as a deadly attempt to explain the wonder of comedy to the squares. So it’s all the more impressive when it eventually reveals itself as a touching tribute to the form. It must take a lot of nerve for artists to resist safer careers in more modest vocations and Birbiglia aims to recognize this in his very personal drama. If you are not of the creative-artistic type, the movie will probably say nothing to you. However, if you do belong to that group, you’ll relate to a lot of what happens to the characters in the movie, and won’t get enough of it; at least that’s what happened to me. Don’t be fooled by the funny people on the poster, this is not a comedy; it’s a drama about comedy. Yes, there are some comedic moments, but this is a serious look about these people’s lives. When some of them come to the realization they have made it as far as they are going to make it, well, it’s just painful to watch. The story follows a modestly successful New York-based improv troupe called the Commune, which consists of Miles (Mike Birbiglia), who at 36 has managed to make being in a troupe and teaching improv into an unglamorous but stable career; Sam (Gillian Jacobs) and Jack (Keegan-Michael Key), the group’s biggest talents who are in a relationship together; Allison (Kate Miccuci), an aspiring graphic novelist; Bill (Chris Gethard), another longtime performer who just wants to prove he’s accomplished something; and Lindsay (Tami Sagher), who is unemployed, unmotivated and still lives with her wealthy parents. All these carefully crafted characters “get by” despite their mutual struggles, however, the dynamics of the group change when word that a producer from “Weekend Live”, an SNL (1975-Present) analogue, is said to be in the audience.

Knowing this, Miles immediately warns Jack not to showboat. He insists he won’t, but a contrived Barack Obama impersonation in the middle of a game reeks of deliberate tampering. Out of the six, Jack and Samantha are asked to audition for their big break, causing the rest of the group to take stock of their lives and “careers” as starving artists. There’s resentment of course, when group members who hope to use Jack to land a writing job on the show resulting in a lot of grappling with reality and a hard look at what each of them really wants out of life. More than anything else, this comedy makes a poignant comment on the irony of talented people making it while other talents struggle never to be recognized. Miles feels it painfully as he sees Jack win a spot on Weekend Live while Miles and his other colleagues labor in the lesser venue of NYC on the improv team, The Commune. As the title of their improv group suggests, their work is communal, depending on an effort for which individual spotlights have no place. Ironically, Jack wins the Weekend Live job partially by standing out doing a solo routine even though his colleagues warned him against it. Improv comedy is about the group, as one of the three rules in the beginning of the film states, but this film is about each character, and how they let go of the group and move on. Unlike many comedy films today, the comedy in the film is character based, and since the characters are the main focus of the film, the comedy is intertwined with every scene. It isn’t a film that has “jokes” necessarily, but it’s a film about funny moments because of the interaction between the characters, which is very similar to improv. The best part is that there is no losing in improv. Even as they fall, they can make it good on the way down, and they do that in real life and in their improv towards the beginning of the film. The strongest aspect of the film is its story, which warmly embraces all its characters with understanding and deep appreciation for their craft. Conflict arises but it never emerges with the blood-and-thunder competitiveness and intensity of other showbiz stories. Once the group is prodded by Jack’s success, they start to; as Miles puts it “look out for number one.” Yet within context everything they do for themselves (and occasionally to each other) is never done with maliciousness. These are inherently good people, caught between the purity of their art and the commerce of what they sell. The film does an effective job of showing the inherent contradictions of communal support and individual talent. In the matter of a romance between Jack and Sam, the tensions between their emerging rewards for their talent and sacrifice are subtly displayed in their loving routines and their personal love. You would not be surprised to know how difficult it would be to determine which bits in the movie are improv and which are rehearsed, so good are the performers. Even that puzzle supports a theme about the intersection of reality and artifice, a benign clash between the creative improvisation and the spontaneity of life itself, both bring their rewards and disappointments. The choice of improvisation theater as the artistic discipline is also very wise; in all forms of art you are to some degree “putting yourself out there”, but in improvisation that’s perhaps more literal than in any other genre.

You may have trained a lot but, when the moment comes, the piece of art is yourself, no safety net there. There is a small scene that resonates a lot with me; when the protagonists meet Ben Stiller and they are kind of star struck and overwhelming him with questions, Bill congratulates him for a Herman Monster sketch he wrote, and Stiller mumbles “that was a long time ago…” Here is the ambivalence: saying that something happened “a long time ago” is a bad thing in entertainment (it means you’re yesterday’s news), but a good thing in art (it means you’ve created a piece that people can revisit time after time through the years with affection). That tension is present in the whole film: are we just the court’s jester, or is there something more important in stake here? The writing of the script is very subtle, it keeps growing on you after watching it (again, if this is your kind of film). Even the characters that appear only once or twice have a lot to them, amazing tips of the iceberg. If there is one aspect of the film that, in my opinion, diminishes its vitality it comes from an anti-cinematic, almost gonzo approach to its subject matter. While never edging into navel-gazing mumble core, improv as a catharsis to a sullen group in existential crisis mode smacks of inside baseball. There are extended moments of the troupe struggling to find their groove resulting in some cringe-worthy “off-nights” which deflate the energy of the story for the sake of realism. Yet if the worst thing that you can say about a film is it “feels too real,” then is it really a problem? Plus, those rifts are mostly predictable but don’t always show up precisely at the expected time. When the lucky auditioners interrupt Bill sharing some bad news about a family member to let everyone know they’re up for Weekend Live, Bill isn’t even offended; he wants to know what bits they’re going to do in their audition. From this supportive, sometimes codependent environment, ambition and desperation still manage to emerge eventually, particularly from Commune founder Miles, who unsuccessfully went out for Weekend Live years ago and can’t understand why the show wouldn’t want “the teacher” of so many of its recent hires. Birbiglia is almost too convincing as a guru who never made it. Miles often doesn’t appear all that funny, even in the context of a semi failed comedian. The cast is uniformly excellent; each of them must navigate shifts both subtle and glaring as the dynamics of their team and friendship mutate in the wake of success. Gillian Jacobs conveys the most complexity–her Sam is young, but caught between the contentment of personal satisfaction and the promise of fame. Not only is she one of the funniest members of the team, but she can tell more stories with a subtle shift in gaze than most actors could with a one-man show. Chris Gethard also shines as Bill, a sad sack with low self-esteem and some of the film’s most gutting lines; he also breaks hearts when he says his father is “nostalgic for a time when I was the star of every play.” As the opportunistic Jack, Keegan-Michael Key has the toughest role. He loves his friends, but not nearly as much as he loves the idea of being famous. That he’s still able to earn our empathy is a testament to Key’s warmth and natural charisma. We also see the full scope of what Key is capable of, namely that he doesn’t have to be over-the-top and hilarious as he is on ‘Key and Peele’ to be successful. Kate Micucci and Tami Sagher have noticeably less to do, but play their parts well. Other than writing, directing & producing this modest budget film, Mike Birbiglia also stars here & is without doubt quite excellent. On the whole, “Don’t Think Twice” is a bittersweet heartfelt dramedy with real & engaging characters.