The Jimmy Show (2002)
Directed by Frank Whaley
Written by Frank Whaley, Jonathan Marc Sherman
Starring Frank Whaley, Ethan Hawke, Carla Gugino
Release Date December 13th, 2002
Published July 23rd, 2003
Frank Whaley has had one of the most unique career paths in all of Hollywood. After a very brief respite in the sitcom world, Whaley moved to his true calling in independent films. He has done some small roles in big budgets flicks like, Hoffa, Born On The 4th Of July and JFK, but it was in the indies that he found his niche. 1994's Swimming With Sharks made Whaley's career. His role as a stressed-out junior agent opposite Kevin Spacey's maniacal Mike Ovitz impression gave Whaley the indie cred he needed to get to where he is today, a respected writer-director-actor. His most recent hyphenated feature is The Jimmy Show.
Though the film's settings include a comedy club, The Jimmy Show is no comedy. Whaley is Jimmy O'Brien, a shiftless New Jersey layabout who can't hold a job and dreams of being a comedian. By day he works at a supermarket stealing beer out of the back room, by night he is at the comedy club bombing miserably.
Jimmy's personal life is complicated by his love for his high school sweetheart Annie (Carla Gugino). When Annie tells him she's pregnant Jimmy, has the look of a man condemned to death as he vaguely proposes marriage. Jimmy also must take care of his invalid grandmother who he, for some reason, won't put in a nursing home despite the fact that he can't afford to care for her.
Jimmy's only solace is on stage where his act about cat food varieties soon become rambling monologues about the various indignities of his daily life. Sadly, these monologues are no funnier than his cat food bit. One night when Annie hears him going on and on about the sad state of their sex life, she decides to end the marriage and take their now-six year old daughter away to another state. It's difficult to tell whether Jimmy is unhappy that she's leaving or somewhat relieved. He halfheartedly attempts to get her back before realizing it's better to let her go.
Based on a stage play by Jonathan Marc Sherman, The Jimmy Show is structured so that the comedy club bits are the film's narration. Whenever the film jumps ahead a year or two in Jimmy's life, the time is summed up in one of Jimmy's monologues. The structure works and though the first few times Jimmy is on stage are brutal, they pick up intensity as Jimmy's anger with his station in life grows. The couple of times hecklers take Jimmy to task over his unfunny material, Jimmy's overwhelming anger and intensity seem to lead him toward something that resembles humor but instead end with Jimmy nearly getting his ass kicked.
The Jimmy Show is a difficult film to sit through for its first hour but, as Whaley's performance becomes more desperate, the performance becomes riveting. You can't help but stare at Jimmy's car wreck-like routines which never once elicit a laugh from the films club audience or those of us watching at home. The film could have used a couple of laughs, something that might keep Jimmy from seeming completely on the verge of suicide, but it's far more truthful to the story that the sadness prevails over everything.
I recommend The Jimmy Show to fans of unusual indie films and to fans of Frank Whaley's previous work such as Joe The King. The average movie watcher might want to find something else.
