The Mob’s Reel: 2017’s Underrated and Underseen Comedies
The Mob’s Reel is a film column that features reviews and essays covering everything from the latest blockbusters to standout indies.
This year has been a hell of a dumpster fire, so here’s a list of underrated 2017 comedy films to help soothe your existential woes.
Win It All
Jake Johnson stars as a gambling addict trying to turn over a new leaf in Win It All, a lo-fi gem that dropped on Netflix earlier this year. Directed by Joe Swanberg, the micro-budget film is a charmingly shaggy character study featuring a great lead performance by Johnson, who co-wrote the dramedy along with Swanberg.
available on Netflix
Band Aid
In Band Aid, Zoe Lister-Jones and Adam Pally star as a couple who try to heal their fractured marriage by turning their arguments into songs, forming a garage band with their oddball neighbor (Fred Armisen). It’s a confident debut by writer/director Lister-Jones, who ably balances the film’s quirky sensibilities with a poignant, cutting emotional honesty.
available on Netflix
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore
Another impressive directorial debut, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore is a darkly funny comedy by Macon Blair that shuttles between indie quirk and disarming violence in the blink of an eye. After her home is robbed, meek nursing assistant Ruth (Melanie Lynskey) becomes fed up with the world’s constant onslaught of bullshit and recruits her neighbor (Elijah Wood) to help track down the perpetrator.
available on Netflix
Colossal
I’m not entirely sure how to describe this film, and I don’t think I even want to. Just watch it. Be surprised for once.
available on Netflix
Logan Lucky
Logan Lucky flew under the radar when it hit theatres in August, but Steven Soderbergh’s return to the director’s chair after a short-lived retirement has made for one of the filmmaker’s funniest efforts to date. Read my full review here, because I’m too tired to paraphrase it.