[yasr_overall_rating]
An aging punk rocker copes with life after rock.
Lee Kirk presumably met his wife, actress Jenna Fischer, on the set of NBC’s acclaimed remake of the British sitcom “The Office.” Kirk briefly appeared as a character called Clark (and even directed an episode of the show). He followed up with a feature-length directorial debut, the painfully contrived but earnest melodrama “The Giant Mechanical Man,” which Fischer starred in and produced. The actress is nowhere to be found in Kirk’s follow-up, the teeny-weeny more assured dramedy “Ordinary World.” Seems like the director left his sitcom roots behind and dove deep into granola indie filmmaking, Brian Baumgartner’s brief appearance serving as the only reminder of his television past.
In a case of “art imitating life,” Bille Joe Armstrong plays an ex-rocker called Perry, his band resembling a somehow even more lo-fi Green Day. The film starts with black-and-white footage of the band performing in 1995, at the peak of their career. Cut to 20 years later: Perry is now a family man, working at Barry’s Hardware with his brother Jake (Chris Messina), forgetting to take out garbage cans, begging for a quickie from his wife Karen (Selma Blair), who (allegedly) forgot his 40th birthday… His daughter interrupts his jam-out trips down memory lane and scrutinizes him about his lack of a job; his acquaintances call him a “pussy.” “My night was awesome,” Perry tells a friend. “I watched ‘House Hunters’ and went to bed.” “House Hunters” comes up again later, as the ultimate embodiment of rock bottom. So yeah, life sucks for poor Perry.
Until, that is, Jake lends him a grand, and Perry wisely decides to spend it on renting the Presidential Suite at the Drake Hotel. In a desperate attempt to reconnect with his rebellious youth, he tries to put together a party, but alas, only his borderline-psychotic friend Gary (Fred Armisen) shows up with a friend and a stripper. Before things get rowdy, Perry’s domestic life comes barging in: locked-out in-laws, woodwork, getting bought out of the family business… In the meantime, Gary tears the hotel suite up, inviting a dozen people, ordering hundreds of dollars worth of room service and kicking Perry out of his own band. I’ll let you figure out how the rest turns out.
The novelty of seeing freakin’ punk-rocker Billie Joe Armstrong play an everyman wears off, then becomes a humbling experience – watching the performer put himself out like that – and eventually turns aggravating, as the guy is clearly not up to the task. That’s not to say he doesn’t have his moments – I’ll even go so far as to say that, with a little honing, he could become a charismatic screen presence – but as it stands, the musician just can’t hold the weight of an entire film on his (surprisingly frail!) shoulders. The rest of the cast do decent albeit unmemorable jobs, sort of blending in with the environment, the one standout being the always-reliable Fred Armisen. When his insane Gary steps into that hotel room, the film comes alive.
“Ordinary World” touches upon some interesting ideas about reaching the zenith of one’s life and then having the ability to accept normality and enjoy each moment. There are a few poignant exchanges. However, every time Kirk seems to find nuance, he side-steps it, teasing us with real depth but merely skimming the surface, as if afraid to drown. The film never seems to find its rhythm, vacillating between comedy and drama and only half-succeeding at both. It’s also filled with age-old tropes, such as a lover resurfacing from the past (Judy Greer, in a thankless role), the father barely making it to his daughter’s talent show, a heartwarming song towards the end that makes it all okay, a sappy reconciliation – and so on and so forth.
Die-hard Green Day fans are not likely to embrace the schmaltz, nor will cinefiles find much to appreciate. There are some moderately funny bits about coasters, and Armisen seems to improvise the best lines – but, as scripted, “you look like a goblin” just doesn’t do the trick. Perhaps embracing your TV roots is not such a bad thing. Kirk’s writing lacks zingers, memorable one-liners that made “The Office” such a hit; you’d think he’d learn a thing or two. He and Jenna should binge-watch season three.
In theaters Friday, October 14th
