Idiots: Scattershot roadtrip comedy

Two dumb, sad guys get in over their heads on a rehab road trip with a teenager who is more clever than them. That’s the general conceit of Macon Blair’s (star of Blue Ruin) Idiots starring Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr.. There’s a surprising amount that someone can do with that premise, and Blair attempts a lot of it with his movie. He dabbles in gross out gags, social commentary, surrealism, heartstring pulling - all with varying degrees of success. In the end, it doesn’t all work, and it leaves the viewer somewhat disoriented and disappointed with what they just saw. Still, as far as low-budget road trip comedies go, Blair does enough stuff well and interestingly enough that it does make you curious about what kind of movie he will make next. 

Idiots starts with our aforementioned bozos Mark and Davis (Franco and Jackson Jr. respectively) recently fired and in need of new jobs. They quickly get hooked up with a service that transports troubled teens to rehab facilities, and their first job is to transport an obscenely rich kid, Sheridan Kimberley (Mason Thames), to treatment. This seems like a great gig for two guys down on their luck, and oh, if only it were that easy. Things quickly go off the rails as it becomes clear that Sheridan has no interest in getting help and is exceptionally gifted at evading Mark and Davis. He repeatedly tries to get away from our two anti-heroes by maiming, drugging, and out smarting them through various hijinx. He’s always one step ahead of the titular “idiots” and that is what drives this movie - albeit with mixed results. He takes Mark and Davis on a disastrous ride with crappy motels, one stripper, a lot of drugs, and hapless kidnappers with guns. One of the more memorable scenes in the movie involves Sheridan drugging our two anti-heroes in a motel which results in Mark having explosive diarrhea while watching a strip tease from a Russian sex-worker, Irina (Kiernan Shipka doing her best Yelena Belova impression). 

Unfortunately, it all sounds more fun than it ends up being, partially because Blair can’t seem to come up with a cohesive tone for his film. At one point he’s trying to say something interesting about the immigrant experience in America, but, before he can say anything profound, he cuts away to one of our main characters puking on the ground. 

So that’s the kind of movie this is. It’s kind of gross, intermittently funny, and ultimately a little bleak. As far as road trip comedies go, it’s just okay. There’s a lack of chemistry between Franco and Jackson Jr. that this kind of movie depends on. Their banter never really flows that well, and they never totally click as two guys who need to come together despite their shortcomings. That said, it does offer some unexpected moments of goofy surrealism that feel like they came from a Tim and Eric sketch. While Mark, Davis, and Sheridan are staying at the motel, Sheridan encounters a group of middle-aged refrigerator salesmen who are obsessed with him, think he’s super cool, and will do anything to protect him from the guys trying to take him to rehab. Nicholas Braun also makes an appearance toward the end of the movie as an aspiring rapper who thinks he’s a werewolf. It’s reminiscent of his turn in Zola and proves that Braun excels at playing tall freaks with delusions of grandeur. I wish there had been more of him in the movie. His weird energy always livens things up. 

In the end, Idiots makes an attempt at some shallow social commentary by showing us that shitty, rich guys never get what they deserve, and all that anyone else can do is try to get what they can while trying not to be screwed over by the powers that be. It’s pretty on the nose and doesn’t really say anything meaningful about the society in which we live. Maybe if our “Idiots” had more fun on this road trip, it would have made the ending hit a little harder. But, Blair’s scattershot comedy is too all over the place for the audience to take anything significant away. It’s mostly just a mildly amusing, tonally confused outing that could probably have used a few re-writes before shooting. Still, at times, Blair showcases his ability to create a few fun and memorable scenes that stick with you after the film. I am excited to see what he does next, even if I’m not planning on rewatching this movie any time soon.

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