Film Review: Self Reliance (2024)

When watching modern comedies, I often find myself wondering how there could possibly be anyone out there who actually thinks the nonsense I’m seeing on screen is funny. Yes, I know comedy is subjective and can’t please everybody all the time, but so much of what I’ve seen in the last ten years or more is so lazy, predictable, and boring that I can’t help but fear there is truly no one left in this world to make us laugh. 

But, perhaps more importantly, if there are any funny people left, I demand to know why they aren’t the ones making comedies instead of all the idiotic hacks that are greenlit over and over again. 

(Putting this to the test, I googled “How many movies has Rob Schneider been in?” The big glaring words at the top of the page told me all I needed to know: “At least 54.” Ladies and gentlemen, I rest my case.)

It was with this groan-worthy mindset that I approached Jake Johnson’s debut feature, Self Reliance. My hopes were not high, but to my astonishment, within ten minutes, I found my mind at ease and my faith in comedy restored thanks to Johnson’s clever writing, exasperated comedic delivery, and surprisingly adept directing. Self Reliance may have its faults (what comedy doesn’t?), but it pleases me to no end that, for the first time in a long time, a truly funny movie made me belly laugh on several occasions. 

The film starts rather plainly as Tommy (Johnson), a typical comedy movie schlub, meanders through a repetitive existence in Los Angeles after being dumped by his longtime girlfriend. His life seems meaningless, until one day Andy Samberg (himself) pulls up in a stretch limo and makes him an offer he can’t refuse. 

The deal is simple: if Tommy can survive for thirty days on a dark web game show where he’ll be hunted for sport, he’ll win one million dollars. It’s a familiar set-up — one that’s been used at least once a decade since The Most Dangerous Game in the ‘30s — but there’s a catch that sweetens the deal. Tommy can only be killed if he’s alone. If he’s with anyone else, he’s off limits to the killers.

When his family refuses to help (they naturally think he’s crazy), Tommy befriends a homeless man named James (Biff Wiff) to stay by his side at all times. For extra security, he enlists the help of Maddy (Anna Kendrick), a woman on Craigslist who claims to also be a contestant on the mysterious game show. Making matters worse, and infinitely more absurd, is that the killers all dress in outlandish outfits (one is a seven-foot-tall giant in a Michael Jackson jacket, another is an Ellen DeGeneres impersonator — you get the picture), so that whenever Tommy tries to tell someone he was attacked, he sounds completely off his rocker.

This lunacy is held together by Jonhon’s frantic delivery and Tommy’s complete inability to articulate himself enough to sound anything but insane. The interactions he has with anyone outside of James or Maddy sound like the erratic ramblings of a madman, so it’s no wonder everyone in his life either questions his sanity or laughs it all off as a coping mechanism for his failed relationship. The parameters Johnson has built for Tommy are a perfect playground for farcical and absurdist comedy, a ball he gleefully runs with.

But not everything works. Kendrick is funny, but I’m not sure she needs to be there in the capacity that she is. Her character seems out of place and oddly disappears for the last quarter of the film, something that makes me wonder what her purpose was to begin with. As a fan, I’m glad to see her, but I wish Johnson could have given her more to work with, or at least kept her around to the end. 

In addition, the film’s final scenes fall off the rails a bit but are mostly righted by Tommy’s eventual vindication, an appearance by the one and only Wayne Brady, and the heartwarming continuation of the wonderful friendship between Tommy and James. Surprisingly, it’s all rather uplifting in a way I never would have guessed, and I can’t help but be more than a little eager to see what Johnson comes up with next. In an industry full of lowest-common-denominator garbage, Self Reliance easily stands out as a high point by comparison.