Review of PEEP WORLD (1 out of 5 stars) - A shame that such a fun assemblage of talent went to waste.
Given its fun cast, I wanted to like PEEP WORLD -- I really did! Instead, I found it dreadfully depressing, both for its mordant tone and, well, pure badness. The Myerwitz family, around whom the film revolves, are thoroughly unlikable, neither Sarah Silverman nor a big dinner scene at the end work, and while Lewis Black seems like the perfect choice for voiceovers, his narration often feels like overkill here.
The action all takes place on Henry Myerwitz’s 70th birthday, during which his four grown children grapple in their own ways with the recent and widespread publication of their family’s most humiliating secrets.
Each of the four siblings complains endlessly, and rarely in a way that’s amusing. Jack (Michael C. Hall) runs a failing design firm and is discovered masturbating at a porn shop called Peep World by his pregnant wife (Judy Greer). His oblivious, sneering ass of a brother Nathan (Ben Schwartz) is “the voice of a generation” and newbie author of the best-selling novel Peep World, a humiliating tell-all at the heart of each Myerwitz’s angst that’s being made into a movie. (And making for one too many invocations of this film’s title, if you ask me.) The middle son Joel (Rainn Wilson) is billed as the black sheep, unemployed, lacking in self esteem and a perpetual drain on Jack’s finances. Yet he still manages to attract Mary (Taraji P. Henson), a perky security guard who legitimately cares about him.
Everyone’s acting is fine except for comedienne Sarah Silverman, who plays the one girl among Henry’s progeny, Cheri. Silverman seems very much out of her element as a mousy-haired drama queen perpetually whining over the book’s portrayal of her. Like her father Henry (Ron Rifkin), the “would-be artist, actress and singer-songwriter” exhibits no redeeming qualities. But unlike him, she unfortunately appears throughout the film. Her gripes and moans are as much a chore for the audience to endure as for her unfortunate family.
To finish out this silly cast of characters, Rifkin’s cold, wealthy patriarch viciously insults everyone at the dinner, a bimbo forty years his junior at his side all the while. Hilarious! Lesley Ann Warren plays his soft-spoken wisp of an ex-wife and is perhaps the only other thespian other than Silverman not up to the task.
PEEP WORLD is meant to be (or is intended to resemble) a comedy, but other than a few brief moments, the film is plainly un-funny, its script neither innovative nor timed for comic effect. One egregious example is a generic scenario in which Nathan has an experimental drug injected into his member to prevent future premature ejaculation. Well, wouldn’t ya know, he develops a painful erection that just won’t go away! This overused gag (see LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS and LITTLE FOCKERS for examples in recent months) then leads to a bizarre and overly long scene of him stumbling around and whimpering on stage at a book reading.
Yes, like Nathan’s perma-boner, PEEP WORLD is painful as hell and overstays its welcome. The concluding dinner scene is yet another study in cinematic excruciation. (The one funny element is that all the characters dress like they’re going to a funeral.) For starters, it seems incredible that no one would storm out over this sociopathic dad treating each of his offspring so atrociously. Not even the significant others? Yet they sit there and passively take his abuse at an event they experience annually. (Jack does stomp out briefly but feels compelled to return and resume his meal.) This is comedy? Finally, the night’s one significant event seems barely thought out by the writer and isn’t necessary to the storyline.
Is this hour and a half of yuck shooting to be the next ROYAL TENNENBAUMS? Though not a great film in itself, Wes Anderson’s 2001 family epic is light years beyond this mess, at least offering the occasional cool character study and a penchant for marvelous production design. Or perhaps given Lewis Black’s sunny voiceover and the sibs’ scratchy inter-relationships, PEEP WORLD’s filmmakers were aiming for something more along the lines of TV’s quirky Arrested Development. But this barely qualifies as a stab anywhere near the direction of the singular, hysterically funny style of Ron Howard’s cult classic. In the end, it’s simply a shame that such a fun assemblage of talent as seen in PEEP WORLD went to waste.
Barry Blaustein’s other non-documentary feature film work as director is 2005’s THE RINGER. Go figure! This is Peter Himmelstein’s first featured screenplay.
Genre/s: Comedy Family
Release Date/s: March 25, 2011 (Limited) (Showtimes & Tickets)
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Company: Occupant Films
Official Site: Visit the Official Site for Peep World
Running Time: 89 Minutes.
CAST and CREW FOR Peep World
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, Ben Schwartz, Judy Greer, Taraji P. Henson, Kate Mara, Ron Rifkin, Lesley Ann Warren
Directed By: Barry Blaustein
Written By: Peter Himmelstein
Produced By: Joe Neurauter, Felipe Marino, Keith Calder