What an Idiot (2014)
Cast: Peter Benson, Julia Benson, Kerr Smith
Director: Peter Benson
Country: Canada
Genre: Comedy | Romance
Official Trailer: Here
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage of the Whistler Film Festival. For more information visit whistlerfilmfestival.com and follow WFF on Twitter at @whisfilmfest.
The film opens with an uncomfortable sex scene that leads to a breakup. Nick (Peter Benson) describes the scene to his cookie cutter bro friends; his ex’s definition of a threesome is for Nick to watch her have sex with another man. The next day Nick meets his gorgeous new boss, Jackie (Julia Benson). Jackie has been brought in as a consultant to downsize his company and Nick thinks it’s a good idea to pursue his new boss. He learns from the help of one of his friends that she is a “fag hag.” She keeps a collection of gay male friends close to her, goes out for drinks with them, and meets them for coffee and drinks wine with them. When Nick’s attempt to ask her out blows up in his face, he tells Jackie that he’s gay. She loves that he is gay and they become best friends while he lives through the agony of being unable to make a move on her. You can probably fill in the blanks from start to finish from here on out. While this film contains an interesting premise, it stays on the monorail of rom-com tropes and antics.
This raises an interesting question about the audience. How much of this audience will be turned off by this premise? Lying to start any relationship (whether it’s friendly or romantic) is disgusting. The fact that Nick uses this to his advantage is disgusting. It’s also disgusting that Jackie doesn’t warm up to Nick until she learns that he is gay. Right off the bat the audience is given two horrible people for the lead characters. If we’ve seen the trailer or read the synopsis we should know this going in and if we’re watching the film we should be warm to the idea. What an Idiot is not for everyone.
While this film contains an interesting premise, it stays on the monorail of rom-com tropes and antics.
Even though this film is not for everyone, it’s not reason enough to let it off the hook. When this film is stripped down to its core, it’s paint by numbers rom-com. The guy wants the girl, he can’t have her, he lies to her, she lets her guard down, the truth about the lie is revealed in a shocking scene and one of two things happen in the end – he gets her or he doesn’t get her. Feel free to flip a coin. A film with this premise should be funnier and should be refreshing.
From the get-go we have little to root for. Why does Nick want Jackie so badly? Yes she is a stunning woman, but after the age of 30 that is not enough. He knows nothing about her and their entire friendship is based on her belief that he is gay. Sometimes we feel a strong desire to want what we can’t have.
To touch on some positives in this film – Peter Benson and Julia Benson have terrific chemistry on-screen. The two are married in real life. They play off of each other well. When they’re laughing and having fun on-screen it all feels genuine.
At one point a character leans in to Nick and says, “He doesn’t smell gay.” This is just one of many times that gay stereotypes are played for laughs but they fall flat and short. There must be funnier ways of having fun with this story.
What an Idiot is a tough recommendation. It’s not particularly funny. It borders on offensive as some of the comedic elements revolve around gay stereotypes. Comedies can work with familiar elements in place as long as everyone involved brings something fresh to the table – unfortunately this film feels familiar and by the numbers.
What an Idiot is a tough recommendation. It’s not particularly funny. It borders on offensive as some of the comedic elements revolve around gay stereotypes. Comedies can work with familiar elements in place as long as everyone involved brings something fresh to the table – unfortunately this film feels familiar and by the numbers.
