Clear History

2013 T.V. movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A marketing guy played by Larry David sells his shares of an electric car company for very Larry David-y reasons and winds up missing his chance to become a billionaire. He retreats to the middle of nowhere to start a new life far, but his former friend and boss moves to town and brings out all sorts of buried emotions. Larry David's character decides to work with one of the Batmen to blow up his old friend's house.

Curb Your Enthusiasm fans should like this as it's really just an extended episode of the sitcom with Larry David playing a character who is not Larry David. I think David is hilarious, and I thought this movie was really funny. Few people will claim that Larry David is a good storyteller, however. This one meanders for an hour and a half, goes off on more tangents than a third grader writing a story about his dog, and has enough asides that you'd think it was put together by a person with ADHD. I couldn't argue with somebody who thought the half hour sitcom meandered too much, so if an hour and a half annoys you, I can sympathize. I like the sidebars, however, and I like how the screenplay sort of artificially brings them into the story multiple times to help this mess of a story fit together. It doesn't seem like the writers--Larry David and three other guys--really knew how to end this story because in the final act, things fall completely to pieces. But it's not about storytelling, is it? It's about laughs. Larry David can't act either, but if you're used to his work, that shouldn't bother you. He's surrounded by capable actors and actresses--the great Philip Baker Hall, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, the lovely Amy Ryan, Bill Hader, J.B. Smoove. Curb alum J.B. Smoove. That's just the best name, isn't it? Keaton is especially funny as a completely ridiculous character who sounds a little like Beetlejuice. They all seem natural in this mostly-improvisational joint, and it seems like they're having fun, the kind of fun that makes it fun for the viewer. I don't know. Maybe I enjoyed this more because it's been such a long time since the last Curb Your Enthusiasm season. Even the bouncy orchestra music sounds like it's lifted straight from the series. I did talk to a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan who didn't care for this, so who knows? I will say this--if you don't like the show, stay very far away from this one. And bite me.