Self Reliance (2023)

Starring: Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Natalie Morales, Andy Samberg, Boban Marjanović, Christopher Lloyd, Wayne Brady, and GaTa
Grade: B

By the time Jake Johnson gets his tooth knocked out by an Ellen DeGeneres impersonator, you will quickly realize that you made the right decision to watch Self Reliance.

Summary

To open, we get a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson in that “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment.”

It’s 7AM, and Tommy Walcott (Johnson) is woken up by his alarm. Next to his bed is a picture of him with his ex-girlfriend Theresa (Morales) outside of studio where The Ellen DeGeneres Show was shot. Soon after, he gets in a ride on the stationary bike while he watches a western and goes about his regular routine of going to work, going to the same bar, and being ignored by the waitress. Afterwards, he stops by Theresa’s house and prepares to knock on the door, but he chickens out and ends up leaving. Following this, he’s walking down the sidewalk, and a limo stops next to him. The window of the backseat rolls down to reveal actor Andy Samberg. Samberg has the sign with Tommy’s name on it and asks a confused Tommy to confirm it’s him, which he does. He asks if Tommy likes limos and invites him in. Once Tommy gets inside, Samberg congratulates him on being “selected”. Tommy isn’t sure what this is for and Samberg doesn’t know either. Since he hasn’t memorized what he’s supposed to say, Samberg just reads it off a card for Tommy but suspiciously relays to the driver what he’s doing before telling Tommy to not worry about it. Nevertheless, Samberg reads off the card how Tommy is single with no children and no dependents, his job is network management focusing on statistical analysis, and physically fit (enough). Once Samberg mentions how Tommy moved back in with his mother after his breakup, Tommy interrupts to ask how Samberg knows all of this. Samberg reveals that the company who hired him has been tracking Tommy for a while. Tommy didn’t realize there has been a company doing this, but Samberg just says that they told him nothing and for Tommy to not ask him any specific questions. Moving on, he has to ask Tommy if he wants to continue on this “adventure”. Tommy takes a moment and decides to say “Yes”. Samberg can’t believe it, but Tommy adds that this is the most exciting thing to happen to him in ages and he doesn’t want it to end. If he says no, he has to go back to his life, and his life is this boring routine he’s stuck in. If he says yes, he figures it has to be better than that.

Samberg doesn’t think so before adding that Tommy’s phrasing of his life situation was sad.

Moving on, Samberg gives the driver the greenlight to go. During the drive, Tommy asks how long it will be before they get to the next part of the adventure, but Samberg shushes Tommy because he’s not supposed to talk. Tommy asks why, and Samberg reveals “they” want to use all of this to build up tension. They get to some abandoned building with red doors on it. Samberg tells Tommy he is to go through those doors to get inside. Next, he is to follow the small red arrows on the ground and walls. Tommy realizes Samberg isn’t coming with, with Samberg explaining that his part in all of this is done. They just paid him to get Tommy there. Tommy tells him it was cool to meet him and tries to bring up getting a beer sometime, but an uninterested Samberg cuts him off and wishes him good luck. Next, Tommy gets inside the empty building and follows the arrows to a room where two interviewers are sitting at the far end behind a table. They invite Tommy to sit down at their table. They give him a book with his name on it and the word “Participant” inscribed below it. They tell Tommy he’s been selected to partake in the biggest reality show on the dark web. There will be people trying to kill him, the hunters. In the book, there are drawings of the hunters and the description of the game in general. Tommy questions the validity of this claim, but they assure him this is true. Each participant selected will have 30 days to survive. If they survive the 30 days, they will win $1 million cash. The hunters will be all around the world, so some might not even make it to his city. He will be safe until they find him. There’s even a possibility that he may spend the next 30 days never encountering anyone but still making the million dollars. Even so, they will be filming Tommy the entire time. They have production assistants who have already bugged his residence, as well as places they expect Tommy to go. They will travel as Tommy does, and he will not see them because they are highly skilled at evasion.

Trying to play along, Tommy questions if they are “production assistant ninjas”, but the one interviewer is quick to reply that they aren’t trained ninjas. Confused, Tommy points out how he didn’t say “trained ninjas”, he said “like” ninjas.

Taking a moment, Tommy gets up from the table to take everything in, and the one interview asks what he can do to make Tommy agree to participate. However, Tommy isn’t sure he can do this. The interviewer encourages him, reminds Tommy that he can always say no, and invites him to sit back down again. Tommy brings up how he’s not comfortable risking other people’s lives like having his “roommate” take a stray bullet meant for him because of a game. The other interviewer assures Tommy that his mother will be safe. Tommy didn’t realize they knew he lives with his mother but questions how they can guarantee this. The interviewer says to Tommy that he can only be killed when he’s alone. If Tommy is with someone else, the hunters will have to wait. There is no risk to anyone else, per the rules of the game. However, if he is alone, he is no longer safe. Tommy sees this as a loophole because if he’s with his mom or his sisters every second of every day, he should be fine. However, the interviewer argues that it’s not as easy as it sounds since he would have to be with them in close proximity nonstop. For example, if the person he is with walks to the other side of the room, he is vulnerable to an attack. Tommy must be in striking distance from them each and every second. Taking it all in, Tommy reiterates how it’s for 30 days, the hunters will look to kill him, but he can’t be touched if he is with someone. Plus, the hunters might not even make it to his city, so there is a chance he spends the entire 30 days without anyone finding him. Then, he gets a million dollars. As he’s saying it, he smiles, and the interviewers know they have him. With this, Tommy agrees to play the game. Day 1 of the game is on a Saturday, and Tommy has his family in the living room to explain the rules of the game. Tommy’s sister Amy (Mary Holland) is still confused on Andy Samberg coming up to Tommy driving a limo. Immediately, Tommy corrects her to explain that Samberg had a chauffeur. Amy’s husband Malcolm (Daryl J. Johnson) jokes that “The Sams” doesn’t drive himself, and an annoyed Tommy explains that he goes by “Andy”.

Amy, Tommy’s other sister Mary (Emily Hampshire), Malcolm, and their mother (Nancy Lenehan) all laugh at these details Tommy has explained about what happened. Agitated, Tommy tries to get back on track with how they need to be with him 24/7 so the hunters don’t kill him. Mary questions if there are other people who are playing the game who could hang out with him. Tommy says he posted a cryptic message on Craigslist. He’s still waiting to hear back, but he can’t depend on it. Amy doesn’t want to hear it and considers him to be delusional, reminding him of the time he told everyone at school he was going to move to Japan to become a samurai with their dad (Lloyd) after he left. Tommy fires back by calling her out for bringing up when dad left in front of their mom. Mary counters with how Tommy made them all call him “Michael Jackson” for a year. While Tommy argues how he was a fan of his music, their mother interrupts to try to get to the bottom of things. She doesn’t believe Tommy either and questions if this is all about how Theresa broke up with him and now has a baby. She thinks he created this all as a diversion, so he wouldn’t have to feel the emotional pain of the loss. Sarcastically, Tommy thanks her for bringing up his breakup. To point out the outrageousness of her theory, he brings up the idea that the producers of this game implanted a baby in an ex-girlfriend who he hasn’t talked to in nearly 2 years in order to get him to risk his life for a million dollars. He jokes that it’s possible but then questions sarcastically if his mother is okay. Amy stops everything and tells him to go to a club or get a hobby and calls him “sad”. Everyone leaves. Right after, Tommy asks his mother if she believes him, and she admits “Not even a little”. On Day 2, Tommy goes through his routine of a morning workout, going to work, and hitting the bar after, but he’s suspicious of everyone around him. On Day 3, it’s more or less the same. On Day 4, he starts to accept things a bit more and laughs while looking at the others around him. He’s starting to realize there might be the possibility of him avoiding contact with the hunters.

On Day 5 and in the middle of the night, Tommy hears glass shatter downstairs that wakes him up.

He goes downstairs, finds the back door opened, and sees a tiny camera device on the ground. Someone found him. He calls his mom to tell her, and she jokes that he can move in with whoever found him. Bypassing this, Tommy explains that it’s one of the production assistant ninjas. She doesn’t want to hear his wacky stories again, but Tommy persists and brings up how he’s holding a small camera, though he concedes it might be rat shit or a weird blueberry. Regardless, he wants to come to the hospital because he can’t be alone and is worried he’s going to be killed, but his mom still doesn’t believe him and refuses. She even says she would prefer “Sandy Amberg to murder you on a computer show than have you come down here and get me fired”. Tommy tells her the correct way to say Samberg’s name, but she doesn’t care and tells him to call his sister. After she hangs up on him, Tommy heads over to Amy’s house and explains what happened to Malcolm on the couch. Tommy is sure he left the backdoor closed, so he’s worried and knows he can’t be alone. Malcolm tells him that Amy doesn’t come home until 2, so Tommy is welcome to crash on the couch. Tommy then asks when Malcolm wants to get in bed together, and Malcolm is confused. Tommy is down to continue watching the movie with him, but he’s already tired and is down to go to bed. Tommy tries to explain how it’s the rules of the game and he could die otherwise. Malcolm refuses to sleep in the same bed with him, and it turns into an argument. Eventually, Malcolm relents and they go to sleep. In the middle of the night, Tommy wakes up after hearing some noise. He turns to see Malcolm is gone. Tommy gets out of the bed and spots a cowboy hunter outside in the yard holding a gun. Once the hunter aims, Tommy runs around the house to find Malcolm. He’s in the bathroom taking a shit, so Tommy busts through the door to get inside and questions why Malcolm didn’t wake him up to take him with. Malcolm replies that he was taking a shit, so he wasn’t going to bring Tommy with. Tommy sees the hunter in the window behind Malcolm, so he lifts Malcolm off the toilet seat to make sure the hunter sees him, ensuring he can’t shoot Tommy.

Once Tommy shows Malcolm to the window however, the hunter is gone and Malcolm thinks Tommy is crazy because he doesn’t see anyone. After this, Malcolm kicks Tommy out and yells at him how he’s going to tell Amy how Tommy kicked in their bathroom door to pull him off the toilet. Tommy insists he can’t be alone, but Malcolm is over it because of the whole dump fiasco. Just then, they see a homeless guy picking through the trash. After Malcolm accepts Tommy’s apology, Tommy has Malcolm watch him until he gets to the homeless guy. Once Tommy gets to him, he offers him a job to just be with him, explaining the rules of the dark web game he’s involved in. The homeless guy accepts and starts walking with him right away. The next day, Tommy is with the homeless guy in the kitchen while Tommy’s mom, Amy, and Mary are questioning what this all is (“I’m gonna need you to be a little bit more specific”). Their mom tells Amy to not be rude, and Amy argues that she’s the one who called her over and tells her to not be soft now. Amy brings up the toilet thing with Malcolm, and Tommy laughs it off and introduces the homeless man as his new friend, James (Biff Wiff). They greet James, and he talks about how well he slept last night. Tommy did as well. Mom asks for James to leave the room, so they can talk to Tommy, but he explains how he can’t because Tommy paid him to shadow him. To explain his anger to his family subtly, Tommy thanks James for taking his unique situation seriously, how it means the world to him, and he’s the only one who’s helping him. Once he proves his point, he has James wait outside. Immediately after, Amy asks what’s happening, so Tommy explains how there was a cowboy outside the night prior who was going to shoot him. He stresses that he can’t be alone and adds that he never would have signed up for the game if he knew how little of support that they were going to give him. Amy argues that he can’t have James in mom’s house because it’s not safe, so Tommy counters by asking Amy, Mary, and their mom to shadow him. They all refuse, so Tommy argues that he doesn’t have another option.

Amy tells their mom to kick Tommy out, but Tommy reminds his mom how they had a deal. As long as he has a job, he can stay with her.

She isn’t sure what to do after the toilet story, but Tommy points out that this is why he has James, so he doesn’t have to do stuff like that anymore. He also promises that it won’t happen again. After James coughs loud enough outside for them all to notice, Amy comments how this is going to end badly. On Day 7, a much chipper Tommy gets his workout in during the morning while James stands near him. He is able to go through his usual daily routine with James, and they both seem to be having a lot of fun. On Day 9, Tommy cheers on James while James gets a workout in, and they continue to go through Tommy’s routine together. On Day 12, they laugh over a meal at the bar while Tommy gives James a phone, and Tommy’s boss gets weirded out by James hanging around the office with Tommy. On Day 13, Tommy and Mary are outside a club, and Tommy doesn’t know where James is at. He tried calling him, so he just hopes James shows up tonight. Tommy wants to stay at Mary’s, but she doesn’t want him to. He explains that mom kicked him out because he got fired from work, presumably because of James’s presence. Just then, Tommy checks his phone and sees that he got an email from someone who is also playing the same game Tommy is. It’s Maddy (Kendrick), and she puts her number in the email. Immediately, Tommy calls her, and she says she’s a participant. He’s not sure if she’s for real and questions if she’s a hunter, but she throws it back on him because it could go either way. Tommy suggests they meet somewhere in public for safety purposes. Maddy is down, but Tommy wants to right away. Pointing out how it’s the middle of the night, she doesn’t want to, but she can do tomorrow. Relenting, Tommy asks if she knows where La Cita is downtown. She hasn’t but replies that she will figure it out. They agree on a 10AM meet-up. For him to recognize her, she says she will wear a sweatshirt with a banana on it. She asks if he will wear yellow, but he thinks it would be ridiculous if they were both wearing yellow clothes, as if it would matter.

Even so, Maddy concedes to his point. Right after the phone call, a giant hunter (Marjanović) begins strangling Tommy against the wall. Since Tommy is alone, it’s open season. Tommy is able to kick the giant in the groin, crawl over to the garbage, grab a bottle, and break it over the giant’s head. Tommy runs over to where the bouncer is to tell him what happened and questions what he’s doing just standing there. He describes the giant to him like how he was wearing a red, “Thriller” Michael Jackson leather jacket. Once he mentions the zippers on it, a guy in line interrupts to say that this was the jacket from “Beat it”, not “Thriller”. Just then, James finally shows up and apologizes. He says he was waiting for Tommy’s call. When Tommy says he called him 10 times, James realizes the phone may have been dead. Deciding to leave with James, Tommy tells the bouncer to tell Mary he was almost murdered, and the bouncer sarcastically replies that he will give her a full report. As Tommy rushes James along while talking about getting a charger, he stops by the guy in line who interrupted him. Tommy does admit it was annoying but says it was cool how much he knows about Michael Jackson because he loved his music when he was a kid. Once Tommy leaves, the guy says the same thing to himself. On Day 14, Tommy and James walk into La Cita, and James confirms that the phone is charged. They see Maddy upon getting inside and walk over. Tommy asks her where the banana sweatshirt is since she said she was going to wear it, but she admits she got self-conscious about it. She still wore a yellow shirt regardless though. Sitting down with her, they introduce themselves and she says she has 15 days left in her game while Tommy has 16. Tommy questions how she’s alone if she’s really playing the game, but Maddy isn’t alone. She points out how her mom is right behind her at the other table. Tommy doesn’t believe her and jokes that his dad is right over there. To prove herself, Maddy gets her mother’s attention, and she greets them from her table.

Getting to the point, Tommy asks if Maddy is with “them” and if she’s there to murder him. She can’t believe it but also argues that she would have just murdered him without telling him if that were truly her goal. Once Tommy and Maddy both agree they aren’t there to murder each other, Tommy relaxes. Tommy says he wants to be on the same team as her, suggesting they spend all their time together to utilize the loophole. Maddy questions if he really wants to spend all this time with her after knowing her for five minutes and doesn’t think she can commit for the full 15 days. Tommy looks at James, and James gives him the advice of going for what he can get. With this, Tommy asks if she can commit for at least the rest of the day, which she accepts. Next, they drive back to Maddy’s house with her mom. As they walk to the house, she talks about how her dad died a long time ago, so it’s just her and her mom. Her dad was a drunk driver, but Maddy is quick to add that he was a veteran, so his funeral was beautiful and he was a beloved figure in the community. She then stops and turns to Tommy and James and admits she doesn’t know why she said all of that. Changing the subject, she brings them into her work area in the garage to show them the ceramic sculptures she’s made, as they are hobbies of hers. She sells them on Etsy. Just then, Tommy hears something. Maddy passes it off as the house just being old, but he’s suspicious. He sees the slightly open door, so he gets her permission to check it out. He asks Maddy if she wants to hold hands, and she goes for it. Tommy opens the door but finds nothing, thankfully. Maddy says the room contains Christmas decorations and a couple embarrassing journals. However, Tommy looks down to find a tiny camera, the same one he found back at his place. The production ninjas have been there. They go inside to have some food, and James talks about never getting married because he likes his freedom. After he says he’s had plenty of love affairs, he turns to Maddy’s mom and asks what her question was. However, she never asked one. Maddy reveals that she was married once but regrets it.

Once she calls him a pain in the ass, her mother agrees out loud with the statement. Tommy says he was never married, but he was with his ex-girlfriend for 23 years. They felt married but never did the paperwork. Intrigued, Maddy asks what happened. James interrupts to say Tommy doesn’t know. Tommy talks about how they got together when they were around 15, and he thought they were going to be together forever. Unfortunately, they grew apart. One day, he came home and she said that was it, so he left. Once James says Tommy hasn’t talked to her since she broke up with him, Maddy can’t believe it. After telling James to shut up, Tommy does say he has gone to her house a lot to ask her, but he’s just not sure what to even say to her. Maddy is shocked that he never found out why she broke up with him and asks if he wants to know. He admits it’s killing him. With this, Maddy decides this is what they’re doing today. If they are going to be partners, she wants to know what she’s dealing with. Tommy doesn’t think she needs to know and gets visibly anxious over seeing Theresa, but Maddy gives him an ultimatum. Does he want to be her partner or not? He’s got no other option (“This is delicious. What do you call it?” – “Spaghetti”). Following this, Tommy goes to Theresa’s house and knocks on the door. She answers, and Tommy tries to make small talk by asking how her baby is doing. Theresa says her kid’s name is Heather and she’s 1, but she knows Tommy isn’t here to talk about that. She’s seen him out on her porch a few times before. Trying to lighten the mood, Tommy asks how she’s doing after The Ellen DeGeneres Show cancellation because he knows she was a big fan. She smiles and talks about how disappointed she was but admits all the red flags were there (“Really fucked with my afternoon schedules”). Regardless, she finally asks what he wants. Tommy details how a “friend” encouraged him to come there to ask Theresa why she broke up with him. Theresa says he knows because they talked about it so much, but he assures her that he doesn’t. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be there. He knew they had their problems, but he thought they were going to make it work, Theresa thought so too, but she hits him with a reality check.

She says that Tommy’s version of being together is just existing, and she needed more from life. Frustrated, Tommy replies that he doesn’t know what that means. Theresa talks about how they just did the same things all the time for years. They went to the same restaurants, ate the same foods, sat in the same chairs, just to “not feel anything”. However, at a certain point, Theresa realized she wanted to feel things, good and bad, and she wanted Tommy there with her. She says she tried, but Tommy was the one who didn’t want to do that. He just wanted to hide. He was stuck and refused to move, adding that “You’re so afraid of feeling that you’re already dead”. Theresa had a lot of stuff to deal with, she’s been working on it, and she has fought to get better. She doesn’t think Tommy wanted that fight, so she had to leave. Tommy questions what Theresa would say if he got better too. She replies that she would have to ask who the other man is, pointing out James standing behind him. Tommy tries to say it’s an awkward time to explain things, but Theresa tells him to give it a shot. Trying to sum things up, Tommy replies, “This is James. He follows me for a dark web game where I’m being hunted for my life, and he keeps me safe”. Theresa just calmly responds, “Right”. Moving on, she tells Tommy that he has to deal with his emotions and how he deserves better than this. Maddy appears and thanks Theresa aggressively while calling Tommy “awesome” and saying “He’s mine”. Theresa questions who she is, and Maddy refers to herself as Tommy’s partner, while adding how they are going to live the fuck out of every day because they could die at any moment. Once Maddy calms down, she congratulates Theresa on her baby and admits she looks stunning. She then excuses herself because she realizes this wasn’t about her. Tommy accepts the awkwardness of what transpired, and he and Theresa say goodbye. As Tommy rejoins James and Maddy, Maddy apologizes for the whole thing. She thought she was being funny and realized it was a misfire.

Tommy says it’s fine because it needed to happen, and they agree to be partners moving forward. It’s exactly what Tommy needs to move forward not only in the game but in life.

My Thoughts:

In his directorial debut, Jake Johnson balances his endearing comedic persona with a creative blending of genres, a unique plot, and the writer-producer-star’s trademark sense of humor. Bolstered by expertly chosen small roles to beef up the supporting cast and an ability to maximize the possibilities of every mundane location used, Self Reliance is a quirky comedy thriller that makes audiences want to see more of Johnson helming his own productions.

Jake Johnson is one of the most likeable actors in Hollywood and has been for well over a decade. It’s hard to say if it’s his relatable, everyman personality, the infectious energy he yields so effortlessly onscreen, a likable aura and chemistry he has with any and all of his co-stars, or his laugh-out-loud comments and demeanor. Really, it’s all of the above. He might not be a traditional leading man and looks more like David Krumholtz in this particular movie than he ever has before, which was surely not a conscious decision, but the scrappy and disheveled Johnson is just as likable as he’s ever been in the role of his own creation, Tommy Walcott. Emulating the “loser” archetype and twisting it in different ways to make it funny is Johnson’s MO, and Tommy is yet another version of that. At this stage in his life, he’s a man who is far removed from society by his own volition and just “exists”, as his ex-girlfriend Theresa puts it, played by the highly undervalued Natalie Morales. However, this “existing”, keeping your head down, and letting time roll over is a depressive phase nearly all men have gone through to some degree. Whether it’s after a breakup, a death, or when one is career-driven to a fault, we tend to let the days pass at a rapid rate just to exist for the ride. Adults have these periods of time where they go to work and accept loneliness simply because it’s easier, and it takes a lot to get them out of this trap-like routine. Johnson’s depiction of a seemingly normal but secretive downward spiral of Tommy’s daily ritual in a few montages spread throughout the feature are enough to make the viewer sit up and realize how they too have a bit of Tommy in them. As the days go by as quickly as they do before Tommy plays the game, as well as during, the viewer starts to internalize how quickly time moves on in their own lives. It’s the feeling of wastefulness and the resulting burst of ambition once Tommy is faced with taking on the creative challenge of the apparently “comedic” reality series DOG that becomes palpable, a highly underrated aspect of Johnson’s screenplay in the middle of the chaos and comedy.

He truly understands the mindset of this character and why he would make such a scary decision. Despite the odd interaction he has with Andy Samberg in the limo and the vague details he is given, Tommy jumps at the chance to continue the adventure because by his own admittance, this is the most exciting thing to happen to him in ages. When he’s eventually describing the game to his family, his mother mentions how Tommy has been broken up with Theresa for two years. Did you hear that? No, it didn’t happen just yesterday. It’s been TWO YEARS since they separated! Hearing this, it’s safe to assume Tommy has been in this quicksand-like routine for that entire timeframe because he has nothing else going on in his life. There are no events to attend, and he has no friends to speak of. His routine is all he has. Two years after their breakup, Tommy is still going up to Theresa’s porch thinking about asking her why she broke up with him, despite her having moved on and already having a kid with someone else. This is part of his routine as well, though it’s not as frequent. However, Theresa was his only connection to someone else outside of his tedious life, which is why he can’t get over it. According to Theresa when Tommy does finally muster up the courage to talk to her after Maddy forces the action, Theresa brings up how Tommy was still doing the same routine even then. The only difference was that she was stuck along for the ride, which is why she left. Theresa couldn’t do the same stuff anymore without change or conflict, but Tommy was content with avoiding it all because it was easier. He is stuck in his own mind and letting life pass him by. It gets to the point where he is itching for someone, something, or both to bring him out of this perpetual carousel that he can’t seem to get off of. Even though this red flag of an interaction with an anxious, bender-having Andy Samberg would make anyone feel uneasy, Tommy sees this as his answer to his prayers. If he decides to stop right then and there, everything remains the same and he sinks further into his routine to exist.

Deciding to go through with it allows him to do something different. If it’s anything, it’s better than nothing. Funnily enough, that’s something.

The audience learns all of this in just the opening minutes with some carefully constructed beats and a strong performance by Johnson interacting with even the most rudimentary of surroundings, giving off the energy of someone who is lost and is longing for more. It’s fantastically done. Johnson’s range showcased through his subtle expressions and authentic reactions in showing this mental funk Tommy is in is a really underrated part of the actor’s game. It doesn’t get talked about enough. Everyone knows Johnson can generate amusement even out of the smallest of roles, but he’s a much more dynamic performer than he’s given credit for when he’s the lead. Just watch how he plays out the scene where Tommy gets to the limo and sees his dad. He sees who’s in the backseat before the audience does, immediately shuts the door to have a moment to himself to ponder the situation, while his facials move like he knows there is no way out of this and he’s realizing it. At the same time, Tommy has this small but crucial response of holding in his natural instinct, repressing his anger in the moment as if to scream out to the heavens questioning why this has to be the next step in the game. Through Johnson’s subtle decisions in opening and closing this limo door and his face saying a thousand words without actually saying anything, this is enough of a sign for the viewer to connect the dots as soon as Tommy begrudgingly sits down in the backseat to see that his dad is there. Going along with this theme of Johnson’s acting practically giving up-and-coming performers noteworthy lessons to add to their own tool bag, watch as Tommy stops his dad trying to reconnect over the matter, how he brings up how Maddy’s safety is his priority, and how he is adamant that he doesn’t want to talk about what happened that led to his father leaving. That emotional but masculine response of Tommy commenting that he loves him, his dad trying to awkwardly hold his hand to Tommy’s head as a sign of affection, and Tommy exiting the limo before he breaks down was an immensely powerful response that didn’t need any further action or statement to get the point across.

It was perfectly aligned with how the protagonist is written and how he deals with deeper, real-world problems, just like how Theresa kind of pointed out. He’d rather not face the real issue as it stands like with his dad or Theresa. Instead, he comes up with any excuse to continue with his attention-diverting routine, which in the case of facing his father is the game itself. It’s not until Tommy runs into a few more losses in the middle of the game where he is forced to finally face the problem head-on and continue the game in attempt to reach the end. For such a peculiar comedy, grounded scenes like the one with his father stand out so much more and add a lot of layers to Tommy’s personal development in the midst of the game. The same could be said about the Maddy twist, and Tommy internalizing her words and trying not to flip out by looking down and rubbing his face, as if he’s trying to physically brush a layer of anger off. Again, these subtle details in Johnson’s acting take the movie to the next level and make the most out of every beat, even though the filming is all done on smaller properties and locations that aren’t as eye-catching as what a big-budgeted blockbuster may give us. A film like Self Reliance relies entirely on its star, its screenplay, and well-written characters more so than the actual premise. If a movie figures out all the other stuff at a high level and the premise is as basic as can be, a feature can still be carried to the finish line. Thankfully for audiences, Self Reliance succeeds mightily with these aspects while its unusual hook perfectly complements and emphasizes these other parts of the production as a whole. Jake Johnson is clearly a student of the game and is work with Joe Swanberg has paid off. It shows that the greatness of Win it All wasn’t a one-off either. By the way, I’m starting to think that Johnson just loves going to these underground Spanish clubs in real life because he does it here just like he does in the Netflix comedy.

Though it goes without saying that Johnson’s comedic timing is still top tier, the intervention scene was a great example as to how he’s able to channel his abilities in nuanced ways. For example, Johnson’s Tommy being able to explain all these ridiculous things that have happened like Wayne Brady bringing their dad over from Cleveland in a normal tone and looking completely fine to the viewer, but dually looking batshit insane to his family, despite the fact that we know he’s telling the truth is talent. From an acting standpoint, this is wildly difficult to pull off, but Johnson does so while maintaining his comedic slant, like how he suggests the interventionist is a setup inserted by the producers of the game (“There’s a ninja out the window right now… but don’t look. They’ll just run away. It’ll make me look worse”). On a minor note, Malcolm’s throwaway line of how Tommy’s one tooth being knocked out changed his face that much was a hilarious observation.

Equally as lovable as Jake Johnson is co-star Anna Kendrick. She carries a lot of the same traits as Johnson and instantly adds a watchability factor to any production she’s involved with. She’s genuinely that charismatic, cute, amusing, and has a strong enough personality to be a bright spot even in the most forgettable of movies. With the two already being huge standouts in Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies and later in Digging for Fire, it was a joy to see Johnson get Kendrick involved in Self Reliance, as their chemistry and ability to make a basic conversation engrossing is second to none. It’s felt right away when the two are dancing and talking at the club, and Maddy admits that she lied about her dad dying for whatever reason. As she rattles off her personal life story in a manner that almost makes the viewer question if the character is on the spectrum, she reveals how her parents split when she was 10, how they just drifted apart and neither fought for their marriage, and how it’s her nightmare to be in a similar type of relationship. On the flip side, Maddy ends up in situations with overly dramatic people, and she gets overwhelmed and leaves, a foreshadowing of what’s to come. Enjoying human interaction and conversation of any kind at this point, Tommy thanks her for the honesty before telling her how his dad left when he was 10 completely out of the blue. The night before, they were staying up together playing video games, and he recalls it as being one of the most fun nights he ever had with him. Then, there was no trace of him the next day. Furthering the awkwardness of Maddy’s cute but legitimately concerning initial interactions, she smiles and laughs at this, passing it all off as an “interesting day”. You have to see how Kendrick reacts in this first half of the film. It legitimately feels like she shadowed an autistic person for inspiration. Then again, the Maddy character was looking on Craigslist to make friends and was dangerously bored by her own admittance, wanting to do something extreme to shake things up. Maybe she really is that lonely and doesn’t know how to act in public.

Nevertheless, Maddy inviting Tommy back to her house to further their friendly partnership, and they sleep in the same bed to ensure Tommy doesn’t get murdered in his sleep and it’s somehow not weird is just another example of how fun these two are together and how they can make the strangest of circumstances work within the context of the movie. They are that good of performers.

What also helps is that Kendrick has a penchant for thriving with quirky lines and humor, and her character of Maddy partnering up with Tommy on this weirdo adventure and not realizing the reality of it becomes a very funny subplot that makes the second act arguably the strongest part of the movie. It teases the viewer to think it’s a certain type of movie due to how well the two characters click, as evidenced by the loving montage of the two hanging in and out of the motel and enjoying each other’s company (“Look I really really like hanging with you. I feel like I have been waiting for you, and now that I got you, I don’t wanna die”). They don’t even need to kiss or cross that threshold into something more, as watching them giggle and glance while deep into conversation or messing around brings the viewer joy, as the smiles of the co-stars are infectious and heartfelt. They enjoy being together, and it’s felt. It’s also why there is a bit of a dropoff once Maddy makes an abrupt exit following a startling revelation. It’s a small but notable hole in the picture, but it’s an intriguing conundrum however because though we don’t want it to happen, it needs to. It makes the audience feel what Tommy feels, as he too is bothered by it. It hits you in the gut when he tries to stop her from leaving by lightly grabbing her arm, and she pulls away, prompting him to immediately apologize. Still, he likes her too much to give up, and it forces him to face the game with a new vigor. Even if the film struggles with the weight of Maddy’s exit, the story needed to go in this direction to complete its arc. With how the first act is constructed and how the overall story is to help Tommy overcome and evolve in his own life through the events of the game, this elongated pit stop was a part of the recovery process he had to face to push himself. Without some loss and a few other curveballs thrown at him like the removal of James and the production assistant ninjas telling Tommy that he had to leave the skid row area of homeless people because though he found another loophole, the producers considered it too boring for their viewers, he wouldn’t have that last extra burst of motivation to push towards the final stretch.

Maddy’s removal and subsequently James, despite being major highlights of the humor and likability of the film, are actually pivotal for the protagonist’s plight, so he can come out of this life-threatening game a changed man for the better. It’s funny how creating more misery can bring out the best in some people. Speaking of funny, Self Reliance has a lot more moments of pensiveness than the usual projects Johnson finds himself in, but the film is still consistently amusing and leaves plenty of room for laughs. Some moments will have the viewer cackling, such as Tommy’s frustrations hitting a fever pitch to where he loudly yells at the unseen production ninjas about how he knows the name of the game after his meeting with Charlie, how he accepts their mind games costing his family to not believe in him, and how it doesn’t matter because he has James by his side, who might be a friend for life. As Malcolm and Amy just watch Tommy yell at what they think is nothing, Tommy turns it up an extra notch and hilariously declares, “And if I find out Madeline gets hurt, I’m gonna fucking kill Andy Samberg. Maddy dies, Samberg dies. I’ll turn that motherfucker into a pinata! You understand what I’m saying? I’ll put his head on a fucking stick! He’ll be a little pinata boy!”. The transition from this, Tommy laughing threateningly, declaring again that they fucked with the wrong guy, and doubling down on killing Andy Samberg to Tommy being woken up in the middle of the night by the main production ninja was hysterical. After he’s told there is a limo waiting outside and he comically asks, “Is this about me saying I would murder Andy Samberg? ‘Cause I would never do that. I was just saying it because I was mad”, you will be fully entrenched in what happens next, especially when the PA continues to say that he doesn’t know when a worried Tommy questions if he’s in trouble for what he said. It’s the screenplay’s use of these special, fictionalized versions of real-life celebrities that really separates the film from other comedies (“Yeah. Was it fucking Wayne Brady? Did Wayne Brady come here and tell you to say that? That son of a fucking bitch”).

Its ridiculousness is not lost on us (“Who got your mom?” – “Fucking hunters, Maddy!”), but it works and Johnson makes sure every last person in the cast gets their moment to shine. If anything, Johnson should have taken it a step further and had Tommy acknowledge that Boban Marjanović is in fact an NBA player during the attack outside of the nightclub. Tommy being choked while he questions if Boban plays for the Houston Rockets would have been hilarious. Besides this, there’s the payoff of the guy dressed like Sinbad and the sumo wrestler, and the laugh-out-loud funny argument Tommy has with the guy in the motel dressed like Mario (“You know what I mean. Fucking look at you”). For the record, the mileage they get out of the Mario gag while still managing to make it threatening was an unexpected adrenaline rush smack dab in the middle of the burgeoning friendship/romance. The Mario-looking man accusing a confused Tommy of being King Koopa, Tommy not understanding the reference, Maddy getting it and referring to herself as Tommy’s Luigi rather than Princess Peach because of their partnership, and Tommy refusing to be intimidated by the aggressive man was pure gold. You do kind of feel like Maddy right after, as she happily talks about how incredible the argument was (“Can you imagine if I didn’t answer your ad? I’d just be asleep in bed and instead I’m yelling at some guy at 3 in the morning calling him a Mario brother!”).

Admittedly, the movie nearly comes to a halt when Tommy reaches the skid row area of town as another loophole and hangs out with James/Walter for the remaining days. All it does is allow for the minds of New Girl fans nationwide to realize the eerily similar parallels of Tommy’s friendship with James and Nick Miller’s friendship with Tran. In both instances, the Johnson character creates a name for his older buddy. If Tran did talk, he would basically be Self Reliance‘s James. Even so, how this sequence is handled, which results in the PA having to step in on behalf of the producers, mirrors what the viewer is thinking during this chunk of the movie in that this part does drag, even if it is still intriguing to a degree. Though the sequence was by design, it does make the story stumble into the climax. The PA is right. We do want a more exciting ending, so we’re actually not mad they mess with Tommy to force the action. Despite this, the third act could have been a bit more eventful. It’s hard to say if the cowboy was underutilized, but there was something missing in that final stretch that made things feel incomplete (“Did you just ask if I was having fun? No, I’ve not been having fun. This has been a goddamn nightmare, Andy Samberg”). Also, the transition into the epilogue was terrible. It made it look like the movie was going for the “It was all a dream” ending, making our hearts sink. Thankfully, this was not the case. They do a comedic twist with the winnings, but that had Johnson’s comedic stylings written all over it and was completely fine. However, it being all a dream would have been unforgivable. It’s a good thing Johnson is a smart enough storyteller to know that would have been a movie-ruining decision. Even so, that white flash transition should not have been used. On a minor note, Tommy’s family fucking sucks. It makes sense why they fail to believe in him during the game, but their doubling down of being absolute pricks in the ending was infuriating. He better not share that Danish krone with them.

For a first-time director but a lifetime creative, a lot of Johnson’s production decisions in terms of casting, location scouting, eclectic humor, and timing fits together nicely. He follows his instincts, and it serves him well with how Self Reliance turns out. With that being said, Johnson should have followed his instincts on the title of the movie. The “Self Reliance” title is hard to market and undermines the eccentricities of this enigmatic comedy thriller. It doesn’t catch the eye, says nothing particularly grabbing about the fun story Johnson put together, and a casual viewer would scroll right by it on a streaming service due to how uninspired it sounds. His original title, which is still revealed by GaTa’s Charlie as the title of the dark web game the Tommy character is playing, was DOG (Delusions of Grandeur). Johnson was right the first time. The only thing that should have been changed were the placement of periods in-between each letter to denote it as an acronym (D.O.G.). The simplistic but meaningful one-word title would have sold this to viewers much easier than the self-help, dramatic-sounding Self Reliance.

Going with the less-is-more approach, Jake Johnson’s first feature with his hands on every stage of the production in front of and behind the camera was a success. Self Reliance uses an outlandish premise to bring life to the simple theme of welcoming life’s challenges to become stronger. Seeing the transformation the protagonist goes through from the beginning of the anxiety-riddled adventure compared to the final minute will no doubt put a smile on your face. Though there are some parts that can drag, Self Reliance is still a memorable watch due to its excellent writing, great performances by a well utilized cast, and plenty of laughs to fill its runtime.