Self Reliance

Self Reliance is a fun debut directing gig from Jake Johnson. Johnson takes an interesting premise and brings some good moments to it although not quite sticking the landing.

The movie could have went in a more intriguing direction by giving it more of a horror vibe when the attacks happen. You never get the sense Johnson is in any real danger.

The real heart of the movie is between Johnson and Anna Kendrick who's easy chemistry together makes the movie. The stuff featuring Kendrick are the movies standout scenes.

There are some nice cameos from Andy Samberg & Christopher Lloyd. Ultimately it is Jake Johnson's charm that carries the movie but this still feels like a missed opportunity. Recommendable.

This movie had a lot of premise, great actors, great idea and actually decent execution. The problem is that while 30% of the first part of the movie will hook you, the last 70% will bore you so much you might even get up and walk out of the sofa. I understand that that was both directed and written by Jake Johnson, but if he had more input from another writer, this could have become a cult classic. Instead we're left with something that feels unfinished, lost, confused and plain frankly, not a comedy and more of a "thriller". If they had more ideas to the story, more characters and more drama, this could have been a golden nugget.

I had some trepidations about this movie, but the premise of this quirky story made me curious AND I like the actor Jake Johnson, so my hopes were high, BUT...

The bad: the story ended up being completely silly and void of ANY originality. Just lame. Not credible. Let alone be anything near suspenseful or mysterious.

Well perhaps the acting was any good? NOPE. The jokes? NOPE. Let me think if there is anything left that might be positive to say. I am sorry, I am lost for words...

I love Jake Johnson as the actor, but he directed (debut) AND wrote AND produced this movie, while he had no earlier experience in directing at all and he basically made a uneventful tedious flop.

Why surprising? Well, I have seen some of Johnson work before and whilst I find him a talented comic actor, I also find that most of his movies have a good central idea, like this one, but then drift away as time goes on.

This one, kind of does that that, but it builds up so much good will, in the viewer, during its runtime that it really doesn't really matter.

There are many smart cameos from Andy Samberg and Christopher Lloyd and Anna Kendrick.

The best thing about this is the central idea which reminded me a little of It Follows, the horror movie from a few years ago, this is like a comedy version of that.

Well worth a watch.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

Self-Reliance is a pretty bad comedy thriller film that has a promising concept about a guy getting picked for a reality dark web show. Where he has to survive 30 days from the hunters to win money. And a flaw that the hunters cant attack when they are nearby people.

Plot was okay. Jake Johnson did good and was funny with the role. The humor and script does not last throughout the film. Humor can barely last so long in the film which falls flat by the time it reaches the third act. The direction and script falls tedious in the end. Anna Kendrick was also okay for a small portion of the film. Which the movie fails to let us know what happens to her in the end.

Overall, it is a comedy film that has a few laughs while falling flat in the end.