Mr. Roosevelt

source: Mr. Roosevelt

Spoiler --Written, directed, AND starring Noel Wells. Emily (Noel Wells) returns to her hometown of Austin 'when "her" cat (now her ex Eric's cat) gets sick. she rushes back, and pretty much invites herself to stay with Eric and Celeste (Nick Thune and Britt Lower). it's so awkward. and all her own fault. clearly, Emily never got over Eric. He and Celeste are totally charming, and Emily keeps screwing up what could be a good friendship with them. the first half moves pretty slowly... and every single thing she does is terribly important, and a huge deal. she's so emotional. she needs counseling or something. about an hour in, Emily gets drunk, comes onto Eric, and tries to put down the new girlfriend. but he's not having it. he finally tells her off, which she needed desperately. it just gets more and more painful to watch. Emily totally goes off the rails and is having a breakdown. or maybe just too many klonopin. did all this really happen in her life? i hope not. or maybe parts of it, and she pieced it together and embellished. who knows?

My score: 5/10. The time I feared has come: millennials are making movies. This is a hodgepodge of backgrounds as reasons to give Noël Wells a stage for her brand of humor. It's a knock off from Zoe Deschanel but not as funny. This film is now streaming on Netflix. After a loved one falls ill, 25-year-old struggling comedian Emily Martin returns to her college town of Austin, Texas and must come to terms with her past while staying with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. There is a lot wrong here but let's start with the basics: if you put a talent in the lead role don't rely on her talent alone. There HAS to be a story to showcase what she does. She was in "Master of None" and my wife who saw it tells me she was cute and did well. From what I have seen of the show, which isn't much, there is a story intertwining the episodes together. It also features a comic, Aziz Ansari. Let's look at a perfect example of how to get a comic noticed in a film: "The Big Sick." I will say there is some good writing in this in the way of jokes. I caught myself laughing several times so there's that. But as a whole the plot is not believable having her go live with her ex who she dumped so she can attend her old cat's funeral. That's just not a good premise. Apparently they disagreed because they named the film after the dead cat. I will certainly look for more from Noël Wells and she isn't bad altogether but she has a long way to go to write, direct, and star in a film as she does in this one. Humility my dear. I understand many will praise her for her bravery in taking on all roles. Ok but there is a point where bravery becomes just a reckless bad idea like jumping off a cliff into a waterfall in front of millions ... topless. 5/10.

I feel sorry for people making such movies!! Stupid movie is an understatement

You have an opportunity to make a movie, and this is what you come up with? Yet another movie where an immature young woman who creates her own "problems" is supposed to interest us. I ended up watching (well, I fast-forwarded through some) to the end because I went from, Hey this might be kind of a cute movie, to hating a cliché, watch-what-words-you-choose-men, selfish child that is the modern pastiche of a woman, and finally to morbid fascination at a project gone wrong. The actor and character of the drummer-waitress was the only redeeming quality.

"Mr. Roosevelt" is about a young woman, a struggling actress and comedian, who spends most of the film acting like a petulant teenager. I mostly get impatient with movies about adults who can't grow up, and whether or not I can tolerate them is wholly dependent on how much the person at the film's center can make me like him or her. Noel Wells, who also wrote and directed this movie, isn't hilarious, and in another mood I might have found myself irritated by her, but she was funny enough to keep me watching, and when I think back on this film I do so with fondness. It's no big deal, and it doesn't really show us anything we haven't seen before, but it has that low-key indie vibe that's easy to relax into. And I did really appreciate the protagonist's attitude about her Facebook-obsessed generation, born of equal parts envy and legitimate frustration, because they're attitudes I've felt myself. If you go in with reasonable expectations there's a good chance you'll like this one. Grade: A-

So this is a film about a lady who leaves without notice her boyfriend and her cat behind as she relocates across country. Months maybe a year later she gets news her cat passed away, so she travels back across country to pay her condolences to a cat she ditched and left behind.. Like seriously, she left the cat behind.. why would she pay for a plane ticket and be all crazy about this cat? Completely pointless not to mention she is a bit more annoying than funny. Not sure how it won awards. Mainly watched it to see how a self wrote/directed film would work while playing the lead role. Id have to say Tommy Wiseau did a much better job with the Room, even though that's terrible. At least there were some good boob shots.

Yes, it's your typical navel-gazing Austin indie. But it's cute, refreshing, real, and it delivers some good insights a lot of people may need to grow as a person. May appeal to women more than men, despite lots of nudity.

My wife and I really enjoyed this movie. It moves quickly, the writing is smart, funny, some deadpan humor, wacky scenes as well. You'll be up to speed within minutes of the start, dying to know what happens to Emily as she visits Austin to pay her last respects to Mr. Roosevelt, her beloved cat. Loved the acting, hipsters are roasted throughout the movie, watch it for that alone! Seriously, if you're looking for a 90 minute movie, don't want to invest too much brain power, not in the mood for overrated Apatow BS, then this flick is for you. Hope to see more of the cast in other roles. Including Mr. Roosevelt!

8/10 for Noel. Her acting, writing and directing is great!