“You failed.” “Yeah, but he failed with soul.”
The aspiring artist. There are multiple types of them, including those who are humble and take a trial-and-error approach to their work in looking to constantly improve, and those whose egos and self-importance get to their head. The latter is what the main character in Owen Kline’s coming-of-age dark comedy “Funny Pages” falls under, which premiered in competition in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. I recently watched the film with my partner, and it is an excellent dark comedy.
“Funny Pages” follows Robert (Daniel Zolghadri), a teenage cartoonist who, after the sudden death of his mentor, decides to leave high school in pursuit of independence, much to the disapproval of his parents, Jennifer (Maria Dizzia) and Lewis (Josh Pais). While working as a notetaker for his legal defender, Cheryl (Marcia DeBonis), Robert first encounters Wallace (Matthew Maher), an erratic and unhinged man who once worked as an assistant colorist for Image Comics, whom Robert soon becomes determined to get a lesson from.
Daniel Zolghadri submerges himself in the role of a scoundrel whose ego and self-importance constantly overtake him, with this element of his character seen through his disrespectful treatment of his friend Miles (Miles Emanuel). This approach to the character results in a breakthrough, leading performance from Zolghadri.
With a stellar supporting performance, Matthew Maher embodies the unstable aspects of Wallace, with several meltdowns that the character has directed at Robert, showcasing a performance that should have garnered awards recognition.
In his feature-length directorial debut, writer-director Owen Kline chronicles the chaos that Robert endures during a winter break. His direction showcases a director cut from the same cloth as other New York-based independent filmmakers such as John Cassavetes and the Safdie Brothers (the film was produced by the latter and their production studio Elara Pictures) — with “Funny Pages” containing a cavalcade of the sleaziest and slimiest characters rarely displayed on screen. With his screenplay, Kline crafts a blend of humor drier than the Sahara and dark as the night sky which drips from his pitch-black pen. An instance of this happens during a scene where Wallace persuades Robert to enter a pharmacy and confront the pharmacist there, one with whom Wallace had an incident. The result is a sequence that is pure comedic chaos.
Kline also includes callbacks to his previous short film work, such as in a scene where Barry (Michael Townsend Wright) is telling Miles about real-life New York talk show host Joe Franklin — who starred in a 2014 short that Kline co-directed, “Jazzy for Joe” (which Wright was also featured in). Along with this detail, Kline also includes subtle dashes of references to animation, such as the 1931 surrealist Fleischer Studios short “Bimbo’s Initiation” playing on Robert’s television in the background — the cartoon illuminating off the screen while he draws a comic with caricatured versions of Wallace and Cheryl. This also extends to references to elements of underground comics culture, such as the sleazy Tijuana Bibles, and Robert’s artwork being reminiscent of the work of Robert Crumb.
As for the cinematography, Hunter Zimny and Sean Price Williams capture a film with every frame seemingly submerged in grime. Shot in Super 16mm on Kodak film, resulting in a grimy and grainy look, Zimny and Williams perfectly capture the rough environment of the film, such as the sweltering Trenton apartment where Robert moves to. This extends to sweat oozing off of his landlord, Barry, in several scenes, along with every tenant drowning in a sea of sweat. The hazy atmosphere and closed-in camerawork of the scenes in this location emphasize the absolute sauna of an apartment, along with the claustrophobic setup of the building. One particular example of the great camerawork in the film is an extreme close-up of Robert’s eyes as he reads through a comic that Wallace worked as an assistant colorist on, at a pizza restaurant, with the film grain being noticeable through this shot. The visual style is comparable to one of the Safdies’ earlier films, the 2014 drama “Heaven Knows What,” which Williams was also the cinematographer for (and starred the late Buddy Duress, who also makes a cameo appearance in this film).
With “Funny Pages,” Owen Kline crafts a subversive comedy that details the downfall of a scoundrel who is in over his head, with the final thirty minutes of the film taking a turn that left me and my partner shocked. It is a showcase of a promising filmmaker and one of the most underrated films of 2022, with its grimy cinematography, biting script and great leading performances.
A character who tries to fly too close in his odyssey.
“Funny Pages” is available for streaming on Pluto TV, on Region B Blu-ray from Curzon Film, and for rent on Amazon Prime Video.
