'Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying' Review: No More COVID Indie Comedies Please | Tribeca 2022
NR
Runtime: 1 Hr and 18 Minutes
Production Companies: N/A
Distributor: N/A
Director: Parker Seaman
Writers: Devin Das, Parker Seaman
Cast: Devin Das, Parker Seaman, Wes Schlagenhauf, Aparna Nancherla, D'Arcy Carden, Mark Duplass
Release Date: N/A
TRIBECA 2022 Coverage
After finding out their best friend is dying, filmmakers Parker and Devin decide to document their journey to see Wes one last time—all in the name of Hollywood success.
Lead actors and writers Parker Seaman and Devin Das share a decent camaraderie. Due to their background in comedy via producing videos for Funny or Die, their dynamic is the most substantial element of this film. They play off each other effortlessly like BFFs through endless banter that has a natural vibe. Even though it’s ad-libbed and some jokes are hit or miss, their upbeat energy keeps you entertained. If anything, their dynamic is better suited for a sitcom.
I wonder what’s in the air that’s forcing all these indie filmmakers to make COVID-related narrative features, primarily comedies. Oh yeah, Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying is a COVID comedy! While there have been many of these within the last two years, this is the weakest of them all.
Commercial directors Parker and Devin are at a rift with their friend Wes Schlagenhauf, who quit their LA dream to return home to Ohio. When Schlagenhauf tells Parker and Devin that he’s dying of COVID, their agent informs them it’d be a great idea to document their journey to see him. Thus begin the beats of a classic road-trip comedy that feels too much like a commercial for Cameo and Mark Duplass. The premise is unfunny and ill-spirited from the get-go and retains that aura throughout its surprisingly short runtime.
The humor is on a pendulum swing, ranging from being topical with COVID to satirizing the indie Hollywood industry. The satire tries to take a Morgan Spurlock approach where it's meta and attempts to deconstruct the archetypes for the road trip comedy. No matter which way it swings, it’s never hilarious.
Most of the jokes are overly reliant on the prominence of internet influence or pop culture references. The jokes are algorithmic for the film Twitter crowd. You feel Das and Seaman try too hard to be meta and are constantly in your face about it. Their banter moves so rapidly that even some of the best jokes don’t have time to marinate.
While I give it the benefit of the doubt for presenting some fun ideas, it’s bogged down by its cycle of commenting on those beats and immediately enacting them. It has that smug tone where it thinks it's hilarious but ultimately amounts to nothing. The entire movie is a one-note joke that goes on for far too long. If anything, Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying is the best example of what a COVID comedy SHOULDN’T be.
COVID comedies peaked with 2021’s Stop and Go. Please, indie filmmakers, I beg of you: NO MORE COVID COMEDIES. Film critics are tired, audiences are tired… everyone is tired. It’s not funny anymore.
