Director: Stu Zicherman.
Starring: Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke, Jessica Alba.
Running Time: 95 minutes.
Synopsis: Carter (Adam Scott) is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce, or so he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past.
A.C.O.D. has a comic cast to die for, a thoroughly decent script which is elevated by the top drawer performances, and a series of farcical scenarios played out in a textbook manner which raise plenty of chuckles. So why doesn’t it entirely work?
Carter is doing alright. He’s got a great job running a restaurant, a funny, successful girlfriend, Lauren (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and despite his traumatic upbringing is the most emotionally stable he’s ever been. But when his younger brother Trey (Clark Duke) announces he’s getting married, Carter must get his estranged parents (Catherine O’Hara and Richard Jenkins) talking to each other, which will unearth a whole set of home truths that have been long since buried.
Scott’s increasingly baffled protagonist is very watchable, but it’s the supporting players around him that really make the most of the competent script, in particular the women of the piece. Screenwriters Ben Karlin and Stu Zicherman must be commended for writing such good material for women, which is surprisingly rare in big screen comedies. Poehler and O’Hara are obviously fantastic, with Alba and Winstead getting a few laughs between them, but Jane Lynch walks off with the film in her pocket.
Playing Carter’s would-be psychiatrist, Scott plays the straight man for the majority of their scenes, with a lot his comedy throughout coming from reacting to the progressively outlandish actions of everyone around him. However, if there is one criticism to be laid out here, it’s that there is a direct correlation between relative ‘hotness’ and number of gags for women. O’Hara, Poehler and Lynch play motherly, authoritative figures who are not presented as desirable and get a lot more jokes. Winstead and Alba, who are never objectified but clearly conventionally beautiful, get less material which is probably not intentional, but it seems to be the way in which mainstream American cinema currently represents women in comedy.
Though A.C.O.D. is funny, it’s also very cold. Zicherman appears to take a nihilistic approach to love which, although a refreshing change from regular rom-coms, is somewhat distancing. Unfaithfulness has long been a staple of dysfunctional families in film, but the cynicism seems to be endemic in A.C.O.D., with the open-ended, hopeful and clever ending leaving you feeling that these people really don’t deserve happiness. Though characters sadly give into their carnal desires, Zicherman’s approach is a rarity in conventional film narrative and makes for far more realistic viewing than things coming to a head in a clichéd, overblown manner.
A.C.O.D. may have a nihilistic crust, but at its centre is a small, gooey dollop of hope. Though not entirely satisfying, its cast and script prove a fine antithesis to the regular rom-coms we are usually subjected to, even if the terrific moments of character comedy all too often descend into subtle farce.
THE SUNDANCE LONDON FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL RUNS FROM 25-28 APRIL AT THE O2. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND TICKETS VISIT: http://www.sundance-london.com
