Salvation Pretty

“Tim Heidecker’s fat, aging hipster is possibly the most hateful character ever committed to celluloid. He’s an entitled prick who doesn’t take anything seriously and acts like a giant asshole to everyone except his friends, who are also doughy, unshaven jerks. Instead of a plot there are loose, unconnected scenes that feel more like sketch ideas (“Tim Bullies a Cab Driver Into Letting Him Drive,” “Tim Talks to Some Black People,” “Tim and Friends Go to a Catholic Church and Mess Around with the Holy Water and Climb on the Pews,” etc. etc.), all of which contain at least one good joke but then drag on for excruciating lengths of time. It was a brutal viewing experience, and a lot of people couldn’t take it. At least a third of the audience walked out of my screening—the most walk-outs I saw during the entire festival. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s probably destined to be one of those films that everyone will see just to talk about it. (Greenberg, anyone?)”

—	My review of The Comedy, just one of the films I saw at Sundance this year. Read about the other 23 (!) on The Awl.