'Entertainment' A Review

Entertainment is an existential dark comedy about stand-up comedian Neil Hamburger(Gregg Turkington, billed simply as The Comedian) and his low profile tour of the southern California desert. The film opens on a show in a prison with Eddie(Tye Sheridan) opening for Hamburger with a clowning act. Hamburger in a dated tuxedo and plastered hair delivers his particular brand of stilted confrontational one-liners to the prisoners, easily the most receptive audience he plays to over the course of the film. What follows is a succession of increasing failures at progressively questionable venues, his performances are juxtaposed with long shots of Hamburger traversing the eerie landscape as well as surreal dream-like encounters.

Turkington as an incarnation of his long time stage persona Hamburger is incredibly emotional, desperate, and confused with eroding endurance. He navigates this pathetic tour with a sense of doom and finality that is compelling but ultimately unfulfilled. There is a parade of brief and fascinating interactions with individuals we are not sure are real but nothing actually happens. The film feels as if it is building towards something but ends on an ellipsis rather than a period.

The beautiful landscape pairs well with an almost supernatural score. The images and cuts are, at times, so muddled they evoke a drug trip or a dream. But the pace is so sedate this questioning of reality is never capitalized on or fully realized. After initial promise it becomes boring, the basic idea is simply repeated without any narrative or cinematic change.

A great performance and an interesting idea that don't evolve past the conceptual.

Rent It.