Tag: Jimmi Simpson

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home: Everything I Wanted – Peacock Review

I’m having trouble typing through tears of joy.

SUMMARY

Shawn Spencer (James Roday) is a hyper-observant investigator who uses his skills to pretend to be a psychic detective along with his best friend Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill). The two worked in Santa Barbara, California, alongside the Santa Barbara Police Department under Chief Karen Vick (Kirsten Nelson). The two regularly pair with Det. Carlton “Lassie” Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) and Shawn’s now-wife Juliet “Jules” O’Hara (Maggie Lawson), and seek help from Shawn’s retired detective father Henry Spencer (Corbin Bernsen). It’s been 6 years since most of the cast moved to San Francisco when the show ended and Lassie has been the Chief of Police in Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, Lassie recently was shot and had a stroke during the operation to save his life, resulting in him being confined to a wheelchair with memory loss. It’s up to the Psych team to figure out who shot Lassie. Guests include Sarah Chalke as Lassie’s Nurse, Joel McHale as Lassie’s father, Richard Schiff as Lassie’s doctor, and Kurt Fuller, Jimmi Simpson, Sage Brocklebank, and Jazmyn Simon reprising their roles as Woody Strode, Mary Lightly, Buzz McNab, and Selene. 

Lassie hasn’t come home yet in this picture.

END SUMMARY

So, to truly appreciate this film, you not only need to have seen the show Psych, but also to know that Timothy Omundson had a major stroke in real life 3 years ago right before they filmed the first Psych movie. As a result, he was only in a small cameo via video in the film. His recovery has been hard, but honestly pretty inspiring. I don’t know the full extent of his mobility, particularly in his left arm, but I suppose it would have been necessary to address it somehow in the film. It surprised me, though, that this movie directly incorporated the stroke, albeit here from surgery, into Lassiter’s character. However, it worked amazingly. I’ve always loved Psych, so I admit that my opinion on this film might be a little biased, but having Lassie going through such a deeply personal journey enhanced almost everything about this film, even compared to the first movie. 

Lassie deserves all of the jell-o he wants.

The highlight of the show Psych, from the pilot on, was less the detective work of Shawn or the police, but more the interplay between Shawn and Gus. James Roday and Dulé Hill have such a wonderful natural chemistry that it makes almost any conversation between the two amusing. The friendship between Shawn and Gus is among the most believable on film, despite the fact that they are almost complete opposites in personality. This movie doesn’t mess with that formula, which is the right call, particularly since it’s been 3 years since we last saw them. 

They’re a couple of wild and crazy guys.

The main story is more compelling than usual, though, because it involves finding the person who hurt Lassie. Since the stakes seem higher, it has an added level of gravitas, even though the mystery is solved in the usual Psych style; which is to say a number of goofy scenes that slowly come together based around a number of coincidences and independent investigations somehow filling in the gaps. The film makes sure that the audience never forgets the center of the movie by having multiple scenes of Lassie questioning what his life means now that he might be physically and mentally reduced from what he was.  Given that Omundson himself was likely dealing with those same thoughts, the performance is incredibly natural and powerful. I don’t want to spoil it, but the last scene with him in the film did legitimately reduce me to tears. 

This man is a damned treasure.

Overall, this was a solid movie if you’re a fan of the Psych franchise. The creators have said they want to make 5 films, and right now that almost seems like too few.

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time, Collection of TV Episodes, Collection of Movie Reviews, or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews.

If you enjoy these, please, like, share, tell your friends, like the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JokerOnTheSofa/), follow on Twitter @JokerOnTheSofa, and just generally give me a little bump. I’m not getting paid, but I like to get feedback.

Amazon Prime Review/Reader Request : Gravy – James Roday’s Dark, Dark Comedy (Spoiler-free)

James Roday of Psych fame brings us an unbelievably dark and gory horror-comedy and it mostly works.

SUMMARY

It’s Halloween and the workers at Chuy’s Mexican Bar and Cantina are getting ready to close. They consist of the bartender Kerry (Sutton Foster), a waitress nicknamed Cricket (Molly Ephraim), Yannick (Lothaire Bluteau) the French cook, Chuy (Paul Rodriguez) the manager, Hector (Gabriel Luna) the busboy and aspiring MMA fighter, and security guard Winketta (Gabourey Sidibe). The only customers are the recently dumped Bert (Ethan Sandler), the exceedingly affectionate couple Stef (Jimmi Simpson) and Mimi (Lily Cole), and Stef’s clown-costumed brother Anson (Michael Weston). However, it’s soon revealed that all the doors have been welded shut, all the phones are down, and that Stef, Mimi, and Anson are taking over the restaurant and making a few changes to the menu… namely, who’s on it.

Gravy - 1Bunny
Also, Sarah Silverman has a bunny suit at some point.

END SUMMARY

James Roday, best known as Shawn Spencer on Psych, wrote and directed this film and, I’ll be honest, it’s a pretty impressive effort for a first-time feature film. This is a dark comedy, which is something that’s usually pretty hard to pull off to begin with, that decides to go to some insanely dark places, but it still mostly works.

Gravy - 2Hostage
Yes, they’re trying to eat an Oscar Nominee.

A lot of it comes from the talent in the cast. Michael Weston, an actor who is one of the ultimate “that guy in that thing” answers, manages to balance playing a complete sociopath with a genuinely somewhat sympathetic character. Jimmi Simpson, a talented actor who hadn’t yet broken out for his Westworld performance, plays his even more insane but also somewhat likable brother. Everyone else is similarly amazing, all managing to get laughs out of how horrifying the situation their stuck in really is. 

gravy-3brothers.jpg
Seriously, the cannibal family is somewhat charming. That’s disturbing.

As this is a B-Grade Horror Movie, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that some people die, and holy heck do they have some fun kills. They’re so absurd that you almost find yourself laughing at it even though they are VERY graphically depicted. Part of it is that all of the characters don’t really show a ton of emotional damage at the other deaths, which makes it easy for the audience to detach from what the reality of the situation would be. One of the best recurring bits is the interactions between Stef and Yannick, who reveals that he is a world-class chef capable of cooking anything, including people, to perfection. Their banter is pretty much always funny, even though it’s literally about cannibalism. Comedy is frequently just horror from a distance, as I have now gotten in the habit of repeating, and this movie needs a lot of distance. 

Gravy - 5Chef
So. Much. Distance. 

 

That’s actually part of the downside to the movie: It’s definitely going to be too dark and too gory for most audiences. Hell, even I felt uneasy at some parts of the movie, though usually someone would quickly say something funny enough to bring me back. Also, without spoiling it, the movie does subvert a lot of tropes, including never really making you feel like any of the victims deserve anything that happen to them. Even in regular horror movies, we usually like our characters to earn their fates, even if only slightly, whereas these characters often die during moments of nobility. Still, it mostly works.

If you have a dark sense of humor, this is a great film to watch. It’s on Amazon Prime right now if you’ve got it. Really, I have to give James Roday credit for putting this together. I hope he tries to make another movie in the future.

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time, Collection of TV Episodes, Collection of Movie Reviews, or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews.

If you enjoy these, please, like, share, tell your friends, like the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JokerOnTheSofa/), follow on Twitter @JokerOnTheSofa, and just generally give me a little bump. I’m not getting paid, but I like to get feedback.