User reviews

"Fool's Paradise" tries to be funny and entertaining. It tries. Charlie Day wrote & directed an homage to Buster Keaton and the Peter Sellers film "Being There," but he didn't deliver an entertaining film. It is meant to be a satire of who we make celebrities and how quickly our opinions can change. By the end, though, I just didn't care.

I love Charlie Day and thought he was perfectly cast to be the lead. His eyes portrayed his naivety perfectly, but he lacked the physical comedy and over expression that would have made this more entertaining.

What he needed was help. He needed a partner to help with both writing and directing duties. Someone to say "that's not funny" or "this scene makes no sense and needs a rewrite." I get what he was trying to accomplish and I hope it leads to more attempts by Charlie Day. But I hope the next attempts are better.

For reference, I think It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the funniest show ever made. And I think the character Charlie Kelly played by Charlie Day is one of the funniest characters in TV or movie history. I was ecstatic to see him have a chance to write, direct and star in a theatrically released movie with a great cast.

There's so much about Fool's Paradise I enjoyed. The premise is instantly funny. Charlie Day's performance had me cracking up. Many other parts had me full-volume laughing, especially when it relates to Adrien Brody's character. I loved seeing many of the Always Sunny cast members with random small roles.

There are a few things that, for me, prevent it from being great. The first half of the movie is infinitely funnier than the second half, which had almost no laughs from me. And while I enjoyed the humorous parts, the more serious parts and character moments didn't work for me.

But the biggest issue is that Ken Jeong, who is seemingly the lead of this movie, didn't make me laugh at all. I've found him fairly funny in most of his smaller roles. But it doesn't seem like he can carry a movie.

I still had a good time with Fool's Paradise. I hope it allows Charlie Day more opportunities to create comedy, especially in an age when comedy movies seem to be nearing extinction. I will watch anything he's in. (1 viewing, 5/11/2023)

I'm a fan of Charlie Day and when I seen he had written and directed a film I was all in. All in until I saw the film. It's started okay at best and just got worse and worse as it progressed. I've never left a movie theater angry at a film before. I laughed about three times in a movie where Charlie Day is the main guy. It felt more like Charlie Kelly from sunny wrote and directed as opposed to Charlie Day himself. Not even as a deep message or parody can this pass for a good film. My opinion is that somewhere in this mess there was a good idea but a good idea doesn't equal good execution. Maybe next time big guy.

A mute John Doe (Charlie Day) is found in a mental institution with the capacity of a five year old. He is released into LA where he is picked up by a movie producer (Ray Liotta). The producer is tired of the star of his movie and intends to use our doppelganger John Doe as a stand-in to replace his star. Lenny (Ken Jeong) is a weasel "publicist" who mistakenly calls John Doe "Latte Pronto" due to the producer's coffee demands. Latte is on his way to becoming a big Hollywood star.

This is a fascinating movie. Someday, someone will dissect this movie to determine why it's not funny. The most obvious reason is that Charlie Day is playing a mute. He has one of the most comedic voices in the world today. People laugh just by the sound of it. It's like an NBA player saying he'll play while having his hands tied behind his back. Sometimes, actors like to go 180 opposite their strength to show that they have undiscovered depths. They go against their popular narrative. In this one, he's trying to do his version of The Tramp. The character construction is too sloppy. He is literally a blank. Instead of a living breathing character, he is a hole on the screen. There is nothing there.

His nothingness may be the point. The movie is satirizing Hollywood and its nothingness quality. In that, this is not breaking any new cinematic grounds. It is ridiculous without being funny. Ken Jeong's over the top character Lenny is almost there at first until he meets Latte. There is a puzzling hole with Latte that overwhelms any chance for humor. The movie just dies.

Just to be clear Charlie Day is among my favourite comedic actors ever, IASIP is a masterpiece. For that reason I had extremely high hopes for Fool' Paradise, however my rating of 7 is generous. Fool's paradise slightly misses the mark with concept, does not have enough laughs (most coming from Adrien Brody) and it felt clear that the ending was written years after the body of the script. Charlie Day was funny but not nearly expressive enough for a silent character, 90% of the time he was showing just confusion. This film was carried by an amazing cast who all delivered excellent performances and Charlie Day's direction which was smooth and shows clear potential. Overall it was a lacking script but I 1000% would watch another film written and directed by Charlie Day as there were obvious signs of potential.

I wasn't going to rate or review this movie, but saw the current critic rating (very low at the time of this writing) and felt compelled to share my thoughts. This movie is not bad - it's not even a slow burn, although a little alternative (much like Day himself). The acting is great and very funny, the story is nice (with a sweet ending) and the spoof/satire of how Hollywood functions is enjoyable throughout. You probably won't love the movie, but you won't regret seeing it. My only complaint was the film seems a little lost when Common's character is introduced, but even then, it wasn't that bad.

While some parts were a little confusing or poorly acted, I greatly enjoyed the premise and where it takes the main character Latte Pronto (Charlie Day). When you look at the events from their perspective, it shows how unpredictable and volatile Hollywood is. And the perspective of the other characters is less interested in who this mysterious character is, and rather how this new kid on the block can benefit them. No one even realizes that he doesn't say a word. I didn't love Ken Jeong's character and felt that their progression was unclear at times. Charlie Day, Common, Ray Liotta, Jason Sudeikis, and Adrien Brody all stood out in their performances.

TLDR; This was day's decade (?) long passion project, it's easy to lose sight as the writer and director of anything over that much time.

I want to start of by saying that I am a huge fan of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and I like Mr. Day in anything I've ever seen him in. Heck I even listen to the pod, which is why this was such a let down. On their podcast Day mentions that he used Ken (Chang from Community) in a new way, that he pushed him in takes to break the type casting. Yet wow shocker Chang plays Chang with the worst fake mustache I've ever seen in my life, and I'm from Guatemala. Dear God the premise was gold and all day had to do was get out of his own way. He mentioned having to reshoot over half the original, like is that not a hint that maybe this could have been a great short film or limited series? I know budgets and financing wasn't an issue, which is why this exists. Say what you will about Hollywood, but sometimes a project does need to die in post. The best part of the film for me was when my online "screener" (and no I wouldn't download a car if that's what you are implying) was interrupted by a gambling ad. Inspite of all that I don't have the heart to give it one star as it was still a good try.

FYI I couldn't finish this film. But I'm sure the ending will redeem it, oh yeah it won't.

This movie felt like Charlie Day's love letter to Los Angeles, a display of both its beauty and its nonsense. The homage to Charlie Chaplin was wonderfully executed, and like many of Chaplin's films, the entire movie is about the main characters relationships to those around him.

I think not being anywhere near the sphere of Hollywood made this movie less impactful to me than it could have been, but there was a heart to it that you can't fake. I think that's what gravitated so many names to this film, and probably to Day himself. I was shocked to see the ratings as low as it was; it's no blockbuster but it is truly a beautiful film.

6/10, I found it quite charming!

I've probably watched Always Sunny through 10 times and love satirical film, but the pacing was rough. Movie started out great, and then seemed to drag heavily in the last half. Some of the bits just got old and somethings just got played out. Plus, the film just kind of ended and didn't feel resolved at all.

I really hope we get more like this, but a little more buttoned up on the editing. I realize it's hard to make an entire movie around someone who doesn't speak, but you might need to have people speak to each other more, rather than speaking to a wall the entire time. Charlie day puts his heart and soul into it, plus Jimmi Simpson is always great. It's just a rough viewing experience.

Love Charlie Day. We had no set expectations and were looking forward to his Directorial Debut. This was not a film we could embrace. All the star power is wasted. We were the only people in the theater opening day hoping against all hope the Critics were wrong. What they say doesn't influence what we choose to see. This time they are spot on. Day's endearing attempt at portraying his character is the only mark it hits. That alone cannot make up for the lack of character depth by his supporting cast. Ken Joeng was more the star of the movie and that still didn't help. His relationship with Latte Pronto is the only semblance of story movement and resolution. At one point my husband asked "When does this movie end?" My reply? "Not even ten minutes after it started." It was that bad. It is with brutal honesty that we both chose to give it a 1. Fool's Paradise is Foolish.

Just a total snooze fest. It's been said in other reviews, and I'm not normally one to pile on, but dead lord... what happened here? I like Charlie Day just fine, the rest of the cast is good, the plot is of course quite dumb which isn't always a bad thing in a comedy such as this one, but it's simply not funny... ever, at all. It's just like the world's worst episode of curb your enthusiasm or something where there's no script at all and we're all expected to find it funny because the actors were funny in other things we've already seen.

I am someone who sticks out bad movies - almost always - but I gave up and stopped watching a little more than halfway through. I just didn't care, wasn't laughing, and had better things to do.

Skip this one.

First off, I must say; I adore Always Sunny, I get all the hate, nobody enjoys positivity and fun in todays world and in turn folks will dislike this flick. And by the reviews they do.

This flick felt like it was straight from my childhood, I grew up watching these types of movies, it has a 60s/70s/80s vibe of comedic filmmaking. It has a wholesomeness to it that is greatly missing in our society and humanity. Plenty of cameos from Sunny that fans will notice, the writing is fun, the directing is good, and it feels like something that is made with love in general. Shut your brain off, let the cast, but mostly Charlie Day entertain you.

First, I want to agree with another review that said the critics were way too harsh. It was not terrible by any means. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the majority of the movie, but the ending does lack focus, and I'm not sure Ken Jeong (although a funny guy) has the acting chops to be taken seriously enough. John Malkovitch's brief role was also completely dubious and a little bizarre. Charlie was great (although, as a fan of his voice, I did start to miss it by the end), several of the cameos were great, and there were some really memorable and hilarious scenes that had us laughing out loud. Even when I wasn't laughing, I spent most of the movie with a smile on my face. It was also quite pleasing stylistically.

Charlie Day is a great actor, was charming even when silent, and we all know he can write a hilarious scene, as we have over 15 years of Sunny content to prove it. Maybe, though, he was a little in over his head trying to tackle all three roles for the length of an entire movie. Still, I would be happy to watch another movie written or directed by him in the future, should he decide to continue (though, after the reception of this one, not sure he will).

This was like a very long, 98 minutes long and dragged out failed SNL sketch. I'm a fan of Charlie Day and he's a great comedian, but putting yourself in a funny film and choosing not to use your comedic trademark funny voice is what failed this film. And that's too bad, as it started out good, not laugh out loud good, but constant smiling and entertaining good. But you can only go so far on silent charm, and can only take so much satirical un-funny comedy. It was great to see the lovely Kate Beckinsale, and Jeong was his usual blast as well, and it was also great to see the late Ray Liotta doing his thing in what is probably the last film he made, but it's too bad this film was more of a flop than it was fun. The story was mostly long dragged out and incoherent nonsense that lacked any good comedy or sharp satire. It's a generous 4/10 for all the stars that I'm sure mostly donated their time for this mess.

I think everyone's getting hung up on the fact that this movie isn't super funny.

It's not really supposed to be. It's gentle, slapstick comedy and it's solidly cute, but it isn't very obnoxious about it. If you like The Party or Being There, this movie is for you.

The star studded cast gives some of the clunky parts of the writing relief. Its representation is questionable and run time could be shortened by 10 minutes or so. But it's cute! It's fun and it's entertaining! Certainly doesn't merit the low scores it got.

This is a solid film worth checking out for some light laughs. Definitely doesn't deserve the hate that it's getting.

Rating: 1.9 Overall, a complete miss from one of my favorite comedic actors of the 21st century as he creates a very shallow movie with no substance as the script and direction really do not play into his strengths at all, making the movie not funny or profound in any way (making you wonder how this project even got green light).

Terrible Direction (The storytelling was very bad as it was faster than the plot was actually moving, the use of cinematography felt very delayed and slow (with the cut just being very boring with the amount of pauses), and he really did not get the most out of the actors (despite it being a very talented cast)), Bad Acting (Very Bad from Charlie Day (While it is obvious he is trying to pay homage to Charlie Chaplin, his performance just feels phoned in with the silent/physical comedy not playing to his comedic strengths (Day is know for being a physical comic used with his voice to create these caricatures, but because the vocal element is taken away he really cannot play to his strengths)), Terrible from Ken Jeong (Honestly one of the worst performances I have ever seen, he just is incredibly annoying at this character he is playing to where it is neither convincing or funny, and he really does not hit any of the dramatic notes when it is needed), Bad from Kate Beckinsale (Her character was just written very dull, so it was kinda hard for her to show off any talent, so it was just a pretty shallow performance), Decent from Adrien Brody (Shows some range of emotion, but its obvious he is pulling from experience rather than taking the direction he is given), Decent from Jason Sudeikis (Really pulls from experience as his one-dimensional character is pretty similar to other characters he has played in the past), Pretty Bad from Edie Falco (Not really given that much to work with as her character is a poorly written caricature of a Hollywood agent), Decent from Jason Bateman, Pretty Bad to Decent from Common, Decent to Pretty Good from Ray Liotta (Actually a character that shows a little range, which is a lot given the rest of the cast), Decent from John Malkovich, Bad from the rest of the cast), Very Bad Story (While it does play homage to the silent Hollywood era, the story becomes incredibly predictable and is profound in no way; many of the elements are there to just fill time (which is saying a lot given that there is barely any plot in the movie)), Terrible Screenplay (The dialogue just comes off as very unnatural and hard to listen to at times, the movie is not funny at all (I gave a slight positive reaction less then 10 times and never actually laughed), symbolism was pretty non-existent given how shallow the movie is, the foreshadowing borderline made the movie incredibly predictable), Pretty Bad Score, Pretty Bad Cinematography (The most part was fine, it was just the shot-reverse-shots were so poorly done that is was so hard to watch), Pretty Bad Sound, Bad Editing (The cut felt incredibly choppy as there were so many awkward pauses that leave silence for jokes that are not even funny), Plot Structure was very bad as the conflict and characters are so poorly introduced, the actual conflict was really dumb, and there is just no climax or resolution, Pacing was one of the biggest issues of the movie as it moved faster than the actual storytelling (so there were so many moments where it felt like there were pauses to either catch up or the information given from the scene is just lost); There should have been a longer runtime to help slow down the pace (but I really wouldn't wanna watch any more of this movie), Climax was very poorly executed as it was more corny than actually entertaining (with none of the comedic elements being that funny); also the climax was incredibly predictable, Tone emulates the silent era in the more dramatic elements but has this clash with modern 2010s comedy (which makes the movie just hard to follow as there is no consistency to follow), It was cool to see Day hire a lot of the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Horrible Bosses cast.