This small, unpretentious comedy starring comedian Marc Maron, delivers some surprising laughs, despite a thin plot line. Maron, as Mel, leads a talented ensemble playing quirky characters tossing lines back and forth in a pawn shop. Director Lynn Shelton wrote the script with Mike O’Brien who was a staff writer at SNL for 7 years. This film has the feel more of an elongated sketch or a series of them. Shelton packed the cast with actors who can react on a dime and there must be plenty of outtakes where they cracked each other up.
Maron, known for his stand-up comedy,(GLOW, WTF podcasts) fields random lines like ground balls and throws them back, helping progress the scattershot plot. It revolves around a family relic brought into the pawn shop that might finally prove the South really won the Civil War.
We interviewed Shelton and Maron at the Austin Film Society Awards Red Carpet the night before the kick off of SXSW. Maron, is a crusty comedian who plays the sarcastic owner of a pawn shop in Birmingham, Alabama. Maron was born in New Jersey. It’s an unlikely spot to find a guy like this. He told us he hung out at a similar shop to get into the spirit of his role. Shelton admitted her cast played along with the script, adding their own improv here and there. The pawn shop turns into a weird place. Mel constantly berates his lone employee, a cute, fun young wacko dude, Nathaniel (Jon Bass – Dog Days, Baywatch)) who swears that the Earth is flat.
The plot is not that complicated, but it’s the way the characters play off each other that keeps them sharp as that sword and the ball rolling. But the writers fail to convey any real apprehension or fear in Mel, even when he’s facing imminent death. The script keeps throwing him laugh lines and Maron has his same slightly annoyed expression. That lack of texture removes any intense suspense to the story.
Marc Maron, Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins and John Bass come together as actors and comedians to make a pretty good team despite the contrivances. Maron also wrote and performs the music for the film.
This film shows using satire that people will want to believe in the most absurd, dumb, patently false things. This Sword may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but it is fun to see this ensemble wield their rapier-like wits.
IFC 89 minutes R
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin consequat turpis eros, et elementum leo porttitor id. Integer quis enim at urna tincidunt molestie ac ac orci. Proin et urna eget nunc sagittis auctor vitae accumsan orci. Curabitur feugiat urna non blandit tincidunt. Nam porta eleifend porta. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla fringilla nisi in metus finibus, sit amet rhoncus ligula interdum.
Aenean efficitur vitae orci non sodales. In nec justo tempor, ullamcorper arcu eu, maximus leo. Proin a congue turpis. Aliquam iaculis augue ac enim lobortis semper. Pellentesque vulputate nibh vel ligula porta aliquet. Sed aliquet turpis diam, ut luctus orci efficitur a. Morbi elit arcu, sollicitudin aliquet porttitor in, vulputate nec justo. Mauris pulvinar nisl augue. Mauris ut quam nunc. In accumsan lobortis magna, eu egestas nulla semper quis. Nulla aliquam, nunc ut auctor mollis, enim quam mattis quam, a ornare tortor ligula a magna. Donec in feugiat purus. Praesent aliquet ante nulla, ut pellentesque dui molestie eu. Aliquam sit amet neque metus. Maecenas purus risus, hendrerit in tortor nec, rhoncus iaculis velit.
Nulla ornare libero ac odio elementum lacinia. Aliquam fermentum dolor sit amet erat rutrum placerat. Ut tincidunt, ante in eleifend lobortis, odio neque pellentesque augue, sed blandit orci purus at leo. Praesent tempor risus hendrerit convallis ultrices. Pellentesque ligula nisl, blandit non nulla in, aliquam posuere nisi. Nullam ac mauris lectus. Mauris dictum mi et porta convallis. Maecenas sapien leo, porta eu maximus ut, ultricies sit amet elit. Nulla maximus dictum metus, sed posuere libero accumsan nec. Phasellus id eros quis ligula facilisis facilisis sed et diam. Vestibulum porttitor nisi massa, vel congue velit efficitur eu. Phasellus quam lectus, venenatis eget hendrerit a, dapibus nec justo. In ultricies nulla nec erat tincidunt porttitor.
