Part hangout comedy and part road movie, “Idiots” has an amiable vibe that also might not be that easy to settle into. We follow Davis and Mark (O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Dave Franco), a couple of screw-ups who struggle to deliver an unlovable juvenile delinquent to a posh rehabilitation clinic. That’s a tall order since Sheridan (“Black Phone” star Mason Thames), the insufferable JD in question, hails from a family with deep pockets.
Everybody in “Idiots” is on their own separate journeys, but for the sake of the plot, they must learn to empathize or just work together. That’s a big ask since, as the title suggests, Jackson and Franco’s antiheroic duo tend to act impulsively. As a result, the movie’s wry sense of humor can sometimes seem variable to the point of being elusive. Don’t get me wrong, “Idiots” isn’t unfunny or inaccessible. More like it’s an acquired taste and you’ll know pretty quickly if you already have it or not.
One of the most refreshing things about “Idiots” is that most of its humor is not only character-driven, but played with a deflating, deadpan seriousness. That’s partly because Davis and Mark don’t really see eye-to-eye, but also because the filmmakers, led by writer/director Macon Blair, seem more invested in his characters’ defining quirks than their symbolic meaning.
It’s not hard to see the movie’s lightly held social commentary for what it is: a loosely goosy critique of privilege in an America where the rich are too well off to learn from their mistakes, while the poor and the desperate literally can’t afford to. Davis tries, but Mark, not so much. Together, they struggle to transcend a series of absurd twists and complications, most of which are either Mark’s or Sheridan’s fault, because they’re just not smart enough to out-think or out-maneuver whatever screwballs Blair and the gang throw at them.
Blair (“The Toxic Avenger,” “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”) has a knack for this kind of off-kilter, po-faced, gag-and-other-effects-driven comedy. A typical joke or routine comes perilously close to acknowledging how ridiculous the plot is from the outset, as in an establishing scene where Davis gets fired from a substitute teacher job by Michael “Killer Mike” Render because he (Davis) made the breathtakingly dumb choice to take his class on a field trip to see Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist.”
Jackson, who shows a little range here, makes you want to care for the anxious, apologetic Davis. But the slippery dialogue that he and his ex-boss engage in doesn’t leave much room for forgiveness, like when Render blurts out: “Even if it wasn’t going in: you saw a dong. And you stayed for the rest of the movie.” Blair lets this inherently goofy scenario play out until what’s funny isn’t any given punchline, but rather a string of outbursts that escalate in pitch without resolving anything.
Jackson’s co-stars, including Kiernan Shipka as an over-it sex worker named Irina, also thrive on Blair’s deflating sensibility. Everybody gets to perform like a character actor, even when Davis melts down while struggling to keep both Sheridan and Mark in line, and no ego is spared here, as you can see in a surprisingly well-executed explosive diarrhea gag. Furthermore, each new twist reminds our antiheroic buddy duo that they’re always this close to making another bad decision.
In that sense, Mark’s boisterous, but empty-headed behavior makes Franco the movie’s MVP. Mark’s not the easiest protagonist to fall for since he’s as much of a dirtbag as Sheridan is, with the key difference being that he can’t afford to keep failing upwards. Franco also makes a meal of his dialogue, like when Sheridan mocks Franco’s blinkered authority figure by asking if he (meaning Sheridan) looks scared. Franco takes a beat to squint and savor Mark’s response: “I don’t know.”
Franco also doesn’t miss a step when Davis goes on a somewhat involved, drug-fueled spiel that begins with, “You ever get the feeling that you’re not real?” Instead of pausing to reflect, Mark just shakes his head and says, “Of course, everybody does.” It’s hard to play such an over-eager but vacant stooge, but Franco knows exactly how to let the scene speak for him and his role.
There’s a lot of conventional pleasures scattered throughout Blair’s low-brow and almost heart-warming picaresque, including a small part for a famous and by now semi-regular collaborator. At the same time, pinning down the movie’s unstable tone can sometimes be frustrating.
Thankfully, “Idiots” works as well as it does because Blair knows that there’s nothing funnier than desperate people who take themselves way too seriously. It’s essentially a feature-length sitcom, only the situation at hand is always so out of control that it slip-slides from one tonal extreme to another like a bored kid channel-surfing. It’s not for everyone, but “Idiots” is already one of the most charming American comedies of the year.
