Authors Anonymous

I’m not a movie reviewer, but I am a movie viewer. I recently viewed an independent film called Authors Anonymous. The movie’s executive producer was Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting who plays Penny on the CBS comedy, The Big Bang Theory. Fifty reviewers on IMDb gave Authors Anonymous an average rating of 5 out of 10. That’s probably fair, though I would have given it a 6 or 7. Women over 45 rated it highest – an 8 on average. The movie is a comedy and I have to say it made me laugh out loud more often than any movie I’ve seen in a long time.

There are comedies, and there are comedies. Some comedies, especially television sitcoms, are basically a running string of jokes. Every line is designed to be a joke, an innuendo, or a sexually suggestive double entendre designed to elicit a laugh. For me, that kind of comedy gets old fast.

The humor in Authors Anonymous was not so overt. It didn’t depend on gags. The script had characters, and most of them really were “characters” in the sense of being a little bit odd. As I watched the movie and got to know the characters, their behavior, actions, and reactions became more and more comical. We’ve all known people like some of these characters: people who have ridiculous expectations, who are jealous or petty or egotistical. And some of us are people that could fit right into this film.

The movie was shot as if it were a documentary, with a film crew following and interviewing members of a small group of aspiring writers who meet weekly to read and critique each others’ work. The movie starts off slowly with the documentary film crew (who you never see) interviewing members of the writers’ group. One day, ditzy blonde Hannah, played by Cuoco-Sweeting, becomes an overnight success, and the movie takes off and gets laughs. The way the members of the group respond to Hannah’s success is predictable, believable, and sometimes hilarious.

The movie is available on iTunes and will be in limited release in the USA in April and on DVD in the UK in May.

(Just to be fair, after reviewing it I give this blog post a 5 out of 10.)