Greetings again from the darkness. What would it take for you and your buddies to talk about killing someone? Perhaps you already have
you know, in a joking way
maybe while playing golf together. That's what happens to Ronnie (James Carpinello), David (Patrick Wilson), and Tom (Scott Foley). A couple of cracks about wanting to kill Stacy (Dagmara Dominczyk), wife of their buddy Ward (Donald Faison), leads to further discussion and an uncomfortable google search.
Since all that is pretty gloomy, you should know that this is a comedy. It's a very dark comedy (given the title) that is filled with a stream of one-liners and some outlandish behavior from a group of people who will never be considered criminal masterminds. On top of that, it comes across as some kind of psycho-sexual, spouse-swapping filmmaking project for first time feature writer/director Scott Foley.
Let's see if we can connect the dots: In real life, Foley is married to Marika Dominczyk (she plays David's wife in the movie) who is also the real life sister of Dagmara Dominczyk (Ward's wife) who is the real life wife of Patrick Wilson. James Carpinello's real life wife is Amy Acker (she plays Tom's wife), and we also get the real life daughter of Carpinello/Acker and the real life son of Foley/Marika
plus the younger sister of Marika and Dagmara. That's more crossover than most community theater productions!
You may recognize Scott Foley from TV's "Felicity" (or many other projects), and this is his first feature film as writer/director. The cast is obviously having a great time, and in that manner, reminds a bit of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Joss Whedon's 2012 version), which was also cast with a group of close friends (including Amy Acker, who also stars here). There are also similarities to VERY BAD THINGS, the 1998 film that brought out the worst traits of its characters. However as stated, this one is filled with offbeat humor and can best be described as black comedy. We even get Nicolette Sheridan as an on-the-prowl aging actress.
Some excellent films are referenced here, including: PULP FICTION, FARGO, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and TRAINING DAY. Clearly this film is not near the level of any of those, but they are used to keep the dialogue amongst friends presented in a grounded way for such an outrageous premise. This one won't make you think much – and please don't let it convince you that murder is a good idea. It might, however, generate a few laughs, and that's always welcome.
