I know this movie isn't for everyone, but it appears that many negative reviews are the result of people not being able to empathize and have compassion for the main character, rather than being focused on any specific qualities of the movie. While it is understandable that you might have a negative reaction to this dark, witty portrait of a very troubled man, it is a shame that so many will be turned off by the generalizations and surface complaints in many of the negative reviews and never have a chance to experience something different. And Lemon is different.
This is a movie about Isaac, played perfectly by Brett Gelman, who compulsively turns off everyone around him. He is obnoxious. He is self-centered. He has no "people" skills. Yet, he is trying. And that is the thread that ties the movie together. We witness a never-ending series of Isaac's attempts to connect with his girlfriend, who dumps him, and with the people he teaches in his theater class, and with a commercial director hilariously played in a cameo by Megan Mullally, and with a new love interest. There are excruciating scenes demonstrating Isaac's awkwardness in every situation, but the actor and the director, Janicza Bravo particularly mine the differences (real and imagined) between Isaac's eccentric white, Jewish family and his new love interest's African American family for some dry humor.
Throughout the movie, while it is exasperating at times to see Isaac ruin his relationships with his dysfunctional and at times even hostile behavior toward others, Gelman admirably gives Isaac a crucial likability, nonetheless, that keeps us hoping he will succeed at something, and with someone, and gives Isaac the humanity that gives some of us the empathy to understand that he is not evil - he's just a mess, emotionally and physically. This is a rare movie experience, albeit an often uncomfortable one. However, it is a real achievement that there is a lot of dark humor to smile about, and a lot of creative, realistic dialog that propels the story and makes us know and understand Isaac and the other characters enough to care about them. It was a pleasure to see this movie, and I hope there is a lot more to come from Bravo and Gelman, who are married in real life.
