Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)

Dir:- Josh Radnor

Starr:- Josh Radnor, Zoe Kazan, Malin Akerman, Pablo Schreiber, Tony Hale, Michael Algieri, Richard Jenkins

Scr:- Josh Radnor

DOP:- Seamus Tierney

Producer(s):- Jesse Hara, Benji Kohn, Chris Papavasiliou, Austin Stark

Josh Radnor the likeable star of the television sitcom How I Met Your Mother branches out into cinematic renaissance man duties as writer, director and leading man in this bubbly little Indie rom-com, that redefines the term ‘twee’ and comes replete with a Richard Jenkins Indie cred cameo. What is perhaps so surprising about the absurdly monikered Happythankyoumoreplease, is the way in which it manages to leaven this in-built ‘tweeness’ with an everyday, shopworn cynicism and well-timed reality interventions. At the close of the film it may just seem appropriate to break that mouthful of a title down and use it as a suitable affirmation of Radnor’s relative success in a genre that has been poorly served by the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Anniston and Katie Hudson, for a good few years now.

Radnor’s directorial debut has the easygoing charm of the first few Ed Burns movies (The Brothers McMullen, She’s the One), without any of the obvious script and casting failings of those releases. Whereas Burns’ hubris has seen him spin his limited talents into ever-worsening vanity releases, it would be surprising if Radnor falls into a similar trap, as he has a good ear for a witty line, as well as a much stronger sense of purpose and a willingness to test the absurd limits of reality. If anything Radnor seems to be a neat hybrid of early Woody Allen and Richard Linklater, constructing deceptively tightly scripted movies that leave a little wriggle room for comic invention and the wonderfully natural ad-lib.

This being a New York movie it simply has to be populated with the potentially ‘precious’ creative types, that continue to try to give the city its brand name Bohemia in these post-Giuliani, Starbucks-supping, tourist heaven times. Radnor plays Sam Wexler, a writer of short stories who has been toiling away at his first novel. On the way to an appointment with a publisher (the aforementioned Richard Jenkins cameo) Sam stumbles upon a young black child called Rasheen (an adorably cute turn by Michael Algieri) who appears to have been separated from his family on the New York subway system. Sam, trying to be the good Samaritan, takes pity on the kids plight and helps him out. However, before long Rasheen has managed to worm his way under Sam’s thin veneer of patented New York cynicism, which leads Sam to make a rather rash and reckless decision.

Bizarre comic relationship generator Radnor style. An inspired piece of absurdism that becomes even better as overdue reality checks in.

This central comic presence, that is predicated upon the deadpan presentation of a relationship between a white, plainly irresponsible, twentysomething slacker/writer and a young, inscrutable, black child, gives the film its impressive air of absurdism. It also, at times, threatens to dwarf the two other plot strands, which revolve around the relationships in the lives of Sam’s two closest friends (both female). The first of these is Annie (played by the strikingly beautiful Malin Akerman), an alopecia victim whose very appearance (all colourful headdresses and trendily bo-ho fashions) suggests that she may not be as assured and confident as she wants to appear. Her Achilles tendon of self-doubt is to do with her dire taste in men, something that blinds her to the questionable and somewhat geekish charms of her co-worker Sam #2 (Tony Hale). Sam’s second friend is Mary (played by new Indie poster girl Zoe Kazan, star of the embarrassingly awful The Exploding Girl, which will be reviewed next month), a childhood acquaintance who seems like a surrogate sister at times. Mary has been in a lengthy relationship with Charlie (Pablo Schreiber, who has an exceptionally interesting face) and is beginning to feel suffocated by the increasing responsibilities that come with encroaching maturity. Charlie is trying to relocate to LA to pursue film work, but Mary’s artistic sensibilities will not allow her to accept sun-kissed Californian superficiality as a suitable home. On top of this Mary finds out she is pregnant, a revelation that seems to amplify all of her fears and neuroses.

In terms of Sam’s own romantic situation, he falls for a barmaid and cabaret singer called Mississippi (Kate Mara, older sister of 2011’s breakout actress Rooney Mara). However, their initial drunken romantic dalliance is quickly undone by a combination of Sam’s inability to deal with commitment and the rather disturbing revelation regarding Sam’s roommate.

Radnor’s writing, with perhaps the exception of the conversation between Annie and Sam #2 that offers up an explanatory detailing of the title, is refreshingly original. In his six main characters (excluding Rasheen) he’s managed to create well-rounded and plausible individuals, that wear their ‘hipness’ like a disguise. On top of this the main thematic concern of the movie turns what would have perhaps been an overly whimsical work into a much sturdier and engaging comedy-drama.

All of these characters are in their late twenties and are clearly at the point where ‘dreaming’ has to begin to give way to ‘reality’. Sam’s devotion to his writing masks the fact that he seems incapable of long-term commitment, which Mississippi highlights when she focuses on his preference for the short-story form over the novel. Many of the absurd elements in the film actually serve as a form of acting-out by Sam, as he throws himself into the strangest of commitments to see if he’ll sink or swim. Annie’s major problems stem from her inability to compromise when it comes to her ‘ideal’ life. Sam #2 starts off as an irritating and gimmicky character, but a combination of Radnor’s writing and Hale’s excellent performance, actually makes Annie’s eventual realisation entirely likely. In perhaps the most complicated of the roles on display Zoe Kazan manages to capture perfectly the almost schizoid, fight or flight mentality of Mary, a woman who seems unable to accept all that she has actually got in life. Charlie initially seems an even less well-formed man-child than Sam, but by the end of the movie there is a real sense that of all the character’s it is Mary and Spencer who have come the furthest and changed most significantly.

Stoop-living in the city. The location photography is superb throughout.

Happythankyoumoreplease is a movie of small moments that cumulatively paint a great big, almost generational picture, of young, relatively comfortable Americans, who are trying to navigate the difficult waters between ‘authenticity’ and ‘commercial reality’, ‘hipness’ and ‘happiness’, the ‘ideal’ and the ‘essential’. One of the most memorable sequences in the film, perfectly showcases Radnor’s abilities with dialogue and characterisation. When Sam hooks up with Charlie in a basement bar one afternoon to reminisce about old times, revealing a hitherto hidden depth of relationship between these two characters, they share the following superb exchange:

Sam:   This writer that I know once told me this great thing. He said that every five years he realises what an asshole he was five years ago. Every five years, like clockwork, he goes MAN, I was such an asshole five years ago. So if we except this, that means, everything we think and feel and say now, in five years, will just be… embarrassing.

Charlie:           This conversation?

Sam:   The worst. We’re going to hate this conversation.

Charlie:           I hate it now.

Sam:   We’re going to hate it in four years.

Charlie:           Did you play sports when you were a kid?

Sam:   Yeah.

Charlie:           Remember ‘walk it off’? No matter what happened, right? I mean your eyeball could be, like, hanging out of its socket. Coach would run over, scoop you up, go ‘You’re alright kid, just walk it off’.

Sam:   Ha, yeah.

Charlie:           And I’m sure a few of those times I was legitimately hurt, but just having this concept ‘walk it off’, I don’t know, as a way to heal myself… it worked. I just walked that shit off. I’ve been feeling lately I’m maybe more resilient than I’d thought. Who knows? Maybe I’ll feel differently in five years.

Sam: Who knows?

Radnor and Schreiber manage to play this scene in a manner that never overstates that central notion that here are two children, finally beginning to accept, and enjoy adulthood.

Man, child or hipster. Pablo Schreiber has one of the most fascinating faces out there.

Aside from the high quality of the writing and the excellent cast, Radnor also manages to paint a portrait of New York city that doesn’t play to the post-90’s romanticised commercial notion of the Big Apple. Here it is very much a city of private, intimate spaces, street-level locales that are hidden off the tourist trail. Much of the credit must go to Seamus Tierney whose cinematography makes the city’s more lived-in quarters seem to sparkle and shine with all of the energy and vitality of anxious youth.

Radnor has already wrapped his next movie Liberal Arts, which premieres later this month. After such a thoroughly engaging debut feature, it will be interesting to see whether his sophomore effort will genuinely herald a fine new comic auteur for the American cinematic landscape.

Pros

• A brilliant script by Radnor that seamlessly blends together Rom-com, absurdism and drama.
• Great performances from all six of the main actors. Whilst Michael Algieri is too cute for school.
• Some mighty fine location cinematography that gives the viewer a little more than the usual postcard Rom-com New York.

Cons

• A rather dire and pointless explanation of the title, that ruins an otherwise great scene involving Malin Akerman and Tony Hale.
• Potentially a little too ‘twee’ for some people’s tastes.
• A soundtrack that collates the usual American Indie music suspects (Shout Out Louds, Cloud Cult, Jaymay, Dr. Dog), all of which, individually are great, but here somehow manage to be both irritating and obvious.

Rating:- 6.5/10