- Directed by: Jimmy Warden
- Written by: Jimmy Warden
- Stars: Samara Weaving, Ray Nicholson, Eric Dane
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwcKPQTizjA
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s got plenty of dark humor, but it’s mostly taken fairly seriously with a body count. Ray Nicholson really makes the movie with his portrayal of crazy. The whole this is put together very well, and we both liked it a lot.
Spoilery Synopsis
Paul and Sofia are getting married– no, that’s the ending. We zip back to the beginning of the story as the credits roll.
It’s 1990-something, and Sofia is a famous pop star with her face plastered everywhere. Paul comes to her door, and wants to propose to Sofia, but Bell, the head of her security team, warns him to leave. Yes, Paul is a celebrity stalker, and this has happened before, so much so that he knows the security man’s name and personal details. They go through a whole routine where Bell pretends to be Sofia, and Ray proposes to him. This ends up with Bell getting stabbed. Paul lets himself into the house and helps himself to all Sofia’s facilities.
Six months later, Sofia’s dating Rhodes, a famous basketball player. He has her confused with Madonna and Cindi Lauper. Bell shows up, and it turns out that he’s Sofia’s father. Paul goes home to his adopted daughter and says he’s ready to return to work. She says “He called again.” We cut to someone new, J.H., who seems to be running errands for Paul.
We hear about a mental patient who has escaped from the asylum. Paul and another prisoner, Penny, killed two people on the way out. When Sofia gets home, Bell tells her about Paul’s escape. Rhodes talks to Paul about his injuries a while back.
Rhodes finds out he’s just another conquest on Sofia’s sex list and takes it personally. She’s been using him for publicity reasons. Outside, the new security guard finds a big crate in the driveway and suddenly, the lights go out. Penny then makes short work of the guard– she beats him to death with a microwave oven.
Rhodes leaves in a huff, but the guard isn’t there to open the gate for him. Inside, Paul gets into the house and menaces Sofia. Rhodes turns the power back on just as Paul gives Sofia a big, creepy hug.
Paul goes home to Eleanor and Abby, his family. Eleanor saw someone creepy outside not long ago, but she got an incompetent singing cop who was easily killed by J.W. J.W. takes all three of the family to Sofia’s place. Along the way, J.W. and Paul get out of the car and J.W. shoots him.
Paul tells Sofia that they’re getting married soon. He introduces Sofia to Penny, who’s as crazy as he is. They have a bit of a “crazy montage” as they get ready for “the wedding.” Rhodes finally gets back inside, and Sophia whacks him over the head with a guitar. Penny comes in, and instead of killing anyone, wants to sing a duet on the piano. This goes badly for both of them, but mostly for Penny.
Morning comes, and Bell wakes up on the side of the road. Kaylor, Sophia’s assistant, has found him; J.W. can only see out of one eye and can’t shoot straight, so he survived. He’s back on the case.
Everyone else has gone to Pastor Lutzner’s church for the wedding. Bell figures it out and calls the police. At the church, Paul gets confused again and brings in Rhodes in the wedding gown to marry; he likes Rhodes better than Sofia. Bell shows up just in time to give away the bride.
J.W. points out that Paul’s not marrying Sofia, he’s got a black man in a dress. Paul looks confused and then proceeds with the marriage. When they get to the “Object” part of the wedding, Sofia stands up and objects. Paul isn’t listening. As the wedding concludes, Paul stabs Rhodes. Everyone scuffles as Sofia takes the knife away.
J.W. takes Abby as a hostage until Rhodes stands up and cuts his throat. Paul still sees himself in a happy wedding scene even as they load him into a police car. Everyone’s happy now, even Paul, who is completely delusional on the way back to the asylum. At least at first as we see him struggle hard to stay smiling.
Brian’s Commentary
The trailer made this out to be a lot more of a comedy than it was. There were a few funny bits, but it’s more serious than not until the very end. Paul is a funny maniac, but he is a maniac; the film has a decent body count. It’s roughly based on a true story that involved Madonna in the 90’s, and there are a lot of nods to that.
Ray Nicholson is Jack’s son, and the resemblance between them is amazing and obvious. He plays “crazy” quite well. Samara Weaving is fine here, although Ray is the one who really steals the show.
Fun!
Kevin’s Commentary
I thought this was very entertaining. And I felt so bad for Paul in the closing credits as his happy state of mind that he’s riding in the back of a limo in love starts to crack.