SXSW Review: CRYING WITH LAUGHTER

Movies of all kinds have entered into my own personal pantheon of favorites, for various different reasons. All of them are great, but there are some that are successful due in part to how well they’re constructed, utilizing the film’s time and pacing in such an efficient manner that I lose track of time and am thoroughly immersed in the story.

CRYING WITH LAUGHTER is one of these films. Written and directed by Justin Molotnikov, this film took hold of my reigns right from the beginning and drove me hard straight through to the end of the trail, before I even knew the ride was done. My blinders were on and the world outside of this film no longer existed.

Enough of the horse metaphors, I promise. CRYING WITH LAUGHTER is a story about Joey Frisk, one of the top stand-up comics in Scotland. Joey Frisk, played by Stephen McCole, can really make his audience laugh. They love his comedy, but when Joey isn’t on stage he’s not as chipper about life. Separated from 6-year old daughter, drunk, dealing with a coke problem and financially strapped, Joey needs a big break in his career.

Joey’s manager Dee (Laura Keenan) has pulled off a major opportunity for him to perform in a showcase and a representative for a major American opportunity will be in attendance. This is just what Joey needed, except this entire opportunity becomes seriously compromised.

Frank Archer, played by Malcolm Shields, is an old schoolmate of Joey’s that shows up trying to reconnect with him after not seeing each other since they were kids. Joey is slow to recall his relationship with Frank, but eventually lightens up with Frank after he offers to help Joey when he’s down and out.

CRYING WITH LAUGHTER is a fresh film, taking a typical genre such as the suspense thriller and applying a different edge. Joey is a comic, so this plays a significant role in the storytelling process. Interspersed within the action of the story, the audience is given short clips of Joey giving a funny and very compelling performance on stage.

As the story progresses, we begin to realize Joey uses anything and everything from his life as potential material. This works marvelously for Joey, but as the performance draws on the material gradually gets darker and more shocking. In this way, the film sort of jumps back and forth in time, just slightly, which creates an intriguing mystery to follow as it unfolds.

If you could imagine taking an Alfred Hitchcock mystery and applying it to a stand-up comic, you may have something very close to CRYING WITH LAUGHTER. The film has some humor, but it’s primarily when Joey is on stage. This film is not intended to be comical, but is actually quite powerful, revealing some heavy tragedy by the film’s close.

Two performances stand out in this film. Stephen McCole, perhaps best known for his role on the RABS series and also his role in BAND OF BROTHERS, delivers convincingly as a stand-up comic, but even more convincing is his portrayal of a man struggling with so much crap in his life, but a man who is somehow able to turn that crap inside-out and make a career of comedy out of all the bad things in his life. Despite the fact that Joey is often a lousy asshole, McCole draws a deeper sense of empathy from the audience. He’s the loser we want to hate but can’t help but connect with and pull for in the end.

The other amazing performance in CRYING WITH LAUGHTER is from Malcolm Shields, who plants that little bug of uneasiness into the audience’s ear right from the beginning, but doesn’t lay out all his cards on the table at once. Shields allows Frank to unfold slowly, gradually pulling Joey and the audience into his web until the truth is finally revealed and Shields performance really stands up.

CRYING WITH LAUGHTER is nothing fancy, nothing extravagantly complicated or pretentious. Instead, Molotnikov’s film is a highly crafted and honed example of suspenseful storytelling. It’s a film with a solid story that had the audience wondering and then after the wondering is over, maintains interest until the very end as we witness Joey come full circle in his life.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

CRYING WITH LAUGHTER is currently available on iTunes and Amazon, soon to be available on cable video-on-demand beginning April 1, 2010. Visit FilmBuff.com for further details.