Well, that was awkward.
Of course, that’s also what I expected it would be. If you can’t tell from looking at the cast and the trailer that An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn is going to be… weird… then you really don’t know what kinds of things Aubrey Plaza and Jemaine Clement usually do.
This one definitely delivers the odd and awkward, the overwrought and outlandish. But it also delivers some surprisingly touching moments that show off the actual acting talent of the cast.
The Plot
Lulu Danger (Plaza) just got fired from the nowhere coffee shop that she’s (ostensibly) working in. Fired by her husband, Shane (Emile Hirsch), who’s an overly dramatic, petty, bully. When Shane finds out Lulu’s brother has more money saved in a lockbox at his vegan store than Shane has saved, Shane and the remaining workers at the coffee shop (seriously, who runs this place while hijinks ensue?) steal the lockbox.
Colin (Clement) just happens to be in the right place at the right time to hear Lulu’s brother complaining about the stolen money and offers to retrieve it. This (of course) leads to him being effectively kidnapped by Lulu (this is kind of like A Life Less Ordinary, but nowhere near as coherent).
Completely dissastified with her life, Lulu has decided to go to An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (Craig Robinson) who she has some sort of history with.
Things get more convoluted and bizarre from there.
“MmmmmRRRmmmm”
So much of this film is just absurdist. From the purposely over the top “bad” acting and questionable music choices for scenes to the plot as a whole, the film is designed to keep you wondering why the heck you’re watching it.
I know I wondered that a few times.
And then I’d be reminded.
When Lulu finally tells the story of how she knows Beverly, it’s kind of amazing.
When Beverly first shows up in person on screen and then proceeds to only growl like Frankenstein’s monster for most of his screen time… it’s hilarious, yet, possibly more sensible than a lot of the rest of the film.
And Craig… well, Jemain Clement is just always amazing. As is Aubrey Plaza. And when you put them together (as anyone who’s watched Legion knows), there’s a weird awkward magic that happens. And, man, does it happen a lot in this movie.
The Verdict
Definitely not for everyone. If you’re a fan of the non-TV stuff that Plaza has done, then maybe you’re up for this. (I love her, but I don’t always love the movies she does… this is a lot more The Little Hours than Ingrid Goes West. I didn’t really like the former, but loved the latter.)
The humor here swings from absurd to slapstick to sophomoric to maybe intellectual. The characters are all over-the-top, awkward, abrasive, generally “too much”, but all perfectly at home with one another. It’s really Colin who gets to serve, ever now and then, as the audience’s voice, since he’s really the only one who ever outright asks “WTF is going on here?” (He really doesn’t get an answer.)
If you can stick with this movie until the end, you’ll get at least some (if not a lot) of satisfaction. Don’t feel too bad about walking away from it, though. I think it’s good, but it’s not anyone’s best work.
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