I like Aubrey Plaza. I just wish I could like her more. I've been a fan since seeing her on TV's "Parks and Recreation", but her movies have been quite the mixed bag. For every "Dirty Grandpa", "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" or "The Little Hours" she does a sub- standard movie like "Safety Not Guaranteed", "The To Do List" or 2017's "Ingrid Goes West" (R, 1:37). I don't think it's really her fault. As an actress, she's attractive, daring and, most important of all, talented. The type of character that she often plays on TV and on film (her unique comic combination of attractive, anti-social, sweet, sarcastic, sexy and uninhibited) usually puts her in films as daring as she is. And that's the risk. Sometimes those films work and sometimes they don't (and sometimes they REALLY don't). The thing is
she's always good in them. Even if the movie is no good, she's interesting and entertaining to watch. Unfortunately, her charm and chops aren't enough to keep the comedy-drama "Ingrid Goes West" from going south.
Ingrid Thorburn (Plaza) is a loser. Even she knows it, but she doesn't know how to behave any differently. She gets her sense of self-worth by mattering on social media. We see her crying as she watches live online updates of the wedding of someone whom she considers a friend (but who only responded to one of Ingrid's online comments). When Ingrid can take no more, she crashes the reception and sprays mace into the eyes of the bride for not inviting her to the wedding. After a brief stay in a mental hospital (seen in a music montage), she writes letters to the bride, blaming her mother's recent death for her unhinged behavior. There is no response to Ingrid's letters. No matter. Ingrid has found a new obsession. She reads a magazine article about a social media influencer named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). Ingrid comments on one of Taylor's posts and
Taylor responds. (Uh-oh.)
Ingrid receives a check from her mother's life insurance company (about $60,000) and she moves to L.A. in order to meet and befriend Taylor. Ingrid rents a room in Taylor's neighborhood from an aspiring screenwriter (and Batman obsessive) named Dan Pinto (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), cyberstalks Taylor, visits Taylor's favorite restaurants and shops in Venice Beach, reads her favorite books and plots to work her way into Taylor's life. Lurking outside of Taylor's house, she sees Taylor and her husband, Ezra (Wyatt Russell), get into a car and leave. Utilizing an unlocked window and some dog treats, Ingrid dognaps their beloved terrier, Rothko, and waits for the "Lost Dog" posters to go up in the neighborhood.
When Ingrid brings back Rothko, Taylor and Ezra can't get her to accept any reward money, so they show their appreciation by inviting her inside for dinner. In spite of the couple's obvious shallowness and pretentiousness, Ingrid ingratiates herself with them – especially Taylor – with whom she becomes instant besties – and a part of her online life – and gains followers of her own. But then Taylor's brother, Nicky (Billy Magnussen), shows up for a visit. He sees right through Ingrid and eventually calls her on her B.S. (even though he's as much of a jerk as she's a psycho). Meanwhile, Taylor links up with an even more famous social media influencer (Pom Klementieff) and begins neglecting her newfound friendship with the very clingy Ingrid. All of this drives Ingrid to increasingly serious and even dangerous actions.
Watching "Ingrid Goes West" is more uncomfortable than entertaining. Plaza does what is possibly the best work of her career, Olsen gives a typically excellent performance and Russell, Magnussen and Jackson are all very strong, but they're serving an awkward and mostly unfunny story. Movie Fans will likely find Ingrid's actions as shocking and pathetic as intended by director and co-writer Matt Spicer (making his first feature), but aren't likely to enjoy much of it. This film works fairly well as a satire of social media fame, but it's a slog to get through and takes us to an ending that can be seen as either inspiring or highly irresponsible. Plaza deserves better and so do Movie Fans. "C-"
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