Self Reliance

Self Reliance is a fun debut directing gig from Jake Johnson. Johnson takes an interesting premise and brings some good moments to it although not quite sticking the landing.

The movie could have went in a more intriguing direction by giving it more of a horror vibe when the attacks happen. You never get the sense Johnson is in any real danger.

The real heart of the movie is between Johnson and Anna Kendrick who's easy chemistry together makes the movie. The stuff featuring Kendrick are the movies standout scenes.

There are some nice cameos from Andy Samberg & Christopher Lloyd. Ultimately it is Jake Johnson's charm that carries the movie but this still feels like a missed opportunity. Recommendable.

It's a cool movie if you don't have anything else to watch. I liked it. It's sort of funny, and it makes you a bit anxious. The game could've been a bit more challenging though.

(***MINOR SPOILER***)

The movie could have been more of a thriller if the game was challenging and Tommy's life was constantly in danger. If paying a homeless guy to be with you all the time saves you from being killed, I don't see the thrill of it.

I read a comment saying it's not as funny, and I have to agree. You'll see people acting goofy every now and then and a bit of humor in some scenes, but just as it could be more thrilling, it could also be more comedic.

Self Reliance has the kind of premise that can carry a movie on its own. It's so intriguing and had me hooked immediately. And it's taken in a bunch of cool directions.

At one point, I thought of an easy way to win the game. I expected the movie to ignore it for other strategies that aren't as smart or effective. To my surprise, the movie does exactly what I was thinking. And they find a subsequent reason for it to not end the game.

Jake Johnson gives a good performance. The only reason I didn't like this more is the lack of laughs. One of the genres listed is comedy but I laughed only a few times. It's more amusing than funny. That's the only thing holding it back from being something great that I continue to revisit. But it's still a solid and enjoyable one-time viewing.

(1 viewing, 1/12/2024)

This movie had a lot of premise, great actors, great idea and actually decent execution. The problem is that while 30% of the first part of the movie will hook you, the last 70% will bore you so much you might even get up and walk out of the sofa. I understand that that was both directed and written by Jake Johnson, but if he had more input from another writer, this could have become a cult classic. Instead we're left with something that feels unfinished, lost, confused and plain frankly, not a comedy and more of a "thriller". If they had more ideas to the story, more characters and more drama, this could have been a golden nugget.

Imagine you're alone and a chance is then presented, to make a million bucks just for 30 days tormented, there's a caveat or two, on occasion you'll be blue, quite often feel frustrated, and abandoned, discontented. On your journey you'll encounter those who may become your friends, as well as those quite keen to bring existence to an end, there'll be those living in shadows, impersonators in costumed clothes, but as the film continues, you will question, what's been penned. As like me you may sit static without laughing or a smirk, as the humour is quite lacking and poor Tommy is a berk, although you may feel sympathetic, to his plight that's quite prophetic, alas the value it delivers, is most likely to just irk.