The late great Jack Lemmon is noted for popularizing the phrase “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.” Although the epithet is older than him, the reasoning behind it still rings true. Humor is truly subjective to the viewer with no control by the person performing. And much like Seth Rogen, humor has taken a beating.
Ever since entering the scene on the show “Freaks and Geeks,” there has been this perpetual game of Chutes and Ladders. For every career high like “This Is The End” and “50/50” there are as many lows such as “Zach and Miri Make A Porno” and “The Interview.” The latter’s broad use of political humor makes a return in his latest film, thankfully without riling up North Korea.
To be fair, the best parts of this film are the light touches of politics. In the opening, we are introduced to a fictional president played by Illinois native Bob Odenkirk having a conversation with the film’s star Charlize Theron as his Secretary of State. What could have been an easy joke instead becomes a hilarious take on politicians as celebrities and image as everything. And these two give the material the right handling it needs.
In fact, the whole supporting cast does. The much publicized aspect of this film is that Theron starts to fall for Rogen while she is looking to make a run for the presidency. But that is the least of this film’s problems. In the more dramatic moments, both of them sell the concept better than in the humorous ones. There is one scene where they dance to Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love” that I found both touching and made me chuckle.
Long Shot
Rating: ★★
Starring Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen
Rated R for strong sexual content, language throughout and some drug use
However, it is when Rogen delves into his own special brand of potty humor that things start to go off the rails. In a later scene, a media mogul and millionaire (played as the best cameo since Tom Cruise in “Tropic Thunder”) gets some dirt on Rogen’s character through some inappropriate surveillance. What he finds isn’t really that funny, and the film even goes so far as to defuse the joke by Charlize saying it isn’t a joke not long after.
If that is your thing, have at it. There are a lot of movies where dirty humor works, “There’s Something About Mary” and many Mel Brooks films come to mind. But you can’t have it both ways, or at least not sell it easily to an audience. This is no rant on Rogen as a bad comedian, but an inconstant one. He wants to have this high minded script that takes careful jabs at the way politics plays out and the tropes of romantic comedies. His problem is he can’t carefully balance this with his past. What might be best is just to abandon it and evolve like so many other great comedians have done. Ironically, Rogen and costar O’Shea Jackson, who plays his friend, have a conversation about compromise and growth that starts to feel like a cry for help.
Maybe what Rogen needs is an intervention, or maybe just a good editor.
