The Incredible Jessica James
Director - Jim Strouse
Writer - Jim Strouse
Starring - Jessica Williams, Chris O'Dowd, LaKeith Stanfield, Noel Wells
"I really like you."
"Yeah Boone, of course you do, everybody does, I'm frickin' dope"
This film exists for one reason and one reason only; to showcase the star power and comedic abilities of former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams. Following in the footsteps of Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry and the rest of the illustrious alumni from The Daily Show, Jessica Williams makes her bid for advancing her career as The Incredible Jessica James. On this level the movie works phenomenally well. Williams is a magnetic presence holding this feathery-light romcom together and trying her best to elevate it with the help of a strong supporting cast.
Jessica is a twenty-something aspiring playwright in New York City who has been recently dumped by her longtime boyfriend Damon (Stanfield) and is taking it pretty hard. Her best friend, aspiring actress Tasha (Wells) sets her up with the recently divorced Boon (O'Dowd) and Jessica finds instand chemisty with him and honestly, you know literally everything that happens in this plot now. Jim Strouse's script clings to the decades old generic romcom formula for dear life and never once loosens its grip. The only addition is the Jessica's job of teaching a group of small children about theatre and her developing bond with one of them. Other than showcasing that Williams can play off of a group of children, these scenes do absolutely nothing but exist and pad the running time of this 83 minute feature, until the second half of the film when Williams tries to get he young daughter figure to abandon being a child by picking a theatre camp over a trip to Six Flags with her family.
Strouse's inspirations for this film aren't solely the classic landmarks of the romantic comedy genre but the recent developments of auteur television, specifically the half-hour dramatic-comedies that have overtaken the television landscape in the last few years. The Incredible Jessica James opens with a disastrous failed date just like pilot episode of Louie. Slightly surreal dream sequences also feel like they could have come from Louis CK, especially the one where Damon threatens to jump off the side of Jessica's building. Jessica's life in New York and her relationship with her parents in Middle America are reminiscent of Hannah in Girls. The presence of Noel Wells and LaKeith Stanfield bring to mind Master of None and Atlanta respectively. Jessica James' New York feels quite similar to Aziz Ansari's vision of the Big Apple. Bringing these influences to the film world can be potentially great but instead Strouse had already surrendered to the romcom formula and seemingly lacks all of the skills necessary to break the formula at all.
The main cast is phenomenal though at trying to elevate this film to any sort of heights. Jessica Williams proves her worth as a leading lady, easily carrying the film. Chris O'Dowd is charming as her love interest, playing a man as broken as Jessica is and forging a bond around that. Noel Wells is delightful even though her character's entire life outside of Jessica seems to revolve around vibrators. LaKeith Stanfield continues to prove he is one of the best young actors period. Short Term 12, Atlanta, Selma, Get Out, Straight Outta Compton. He's great here as well even though most of his work is in these bizarre, somewhat surreal dream sequences that really don't work at all. The first time it happens it's a nice changeup but subsequent attempts only bring vastly diminishing returns.
The Incredible Jessica James features a great cast and a standout leading performance but essentially nothing else of value. Jim Strouse's direction can generously be described as invisible. When he tries to do stretch his talents he falls flat as best demonstrated by the numerous dream sequences. His script is such a paint-by-numbers romcom that the details are probably the only thing you might not have seen before. Except that's not even accurate. It opens on a Tinder date but Master of None already did an entire episode about that. Jessica James is a disappointing film. If the script and direction had been a tenth as inspired as the four leads this could have been a good film. Instead it is just another mediocre romcom in a world that already features hundreds of thousands of those.
Schurmann Score - 5/10
This film exists for one reason and one reason only; to showcase the star power and comedic abilities of former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams. Following in the footsteps of Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry and the rest of the illustrious alumni from The Daily Show, Jessica Williams makes her bid for advancing her career as The Incredible Jessica James. On this level the movie works phenomenally well. Williams is a magnetic presence holding this feathery-light romcom together and trying her best to elevate it with the help of a strong supporting cast.
Jessica is a twenty-something aspiring playwright in New York City who has been recently dumped by her longtime boyfriend Damon (Stanfield) and is taking it pretty hard. Her best friend, aspiring actress Tasha (Wells) sets her up with the recently divorced Boon (O'Dowd) and Jessica finds instand chemisty with him and honestly, you know literally everything that happens in this plot now. Jim Strouse's script clings to the decades old generic romcom formula for dear life and never once loosens its grip. The only addition is the Jessica's job of teaching a group of small children about theatre and her developing bond with one of them. Other than showcasing that Williams can play off of a group of children, these scenes do absolutely nothing but exist and pad the running time of this 83 minute feature, until the second half of the film when Williams tries to get he young daughter figure to abandon being a child by picking a theatre camp over a trip to Six Flags with her family.
Strouse's inspirations for this film aren't solely the classic landmarks of the romantic comedy genre but the recent developments of auteur television, specifically the half-hour dramatic-comedies that have overtaken the television landscape in the last few years. The Incredible Jessica James opens with a disastrous failed date just like pilot episode of Louie. Slightly surreal dream sequences also feel like they could have come from Louis CK, especially the one where Damon threatens to jump off the side of Jessica's building. Jessica's life in New York and her relationship with her parents in Middle America are reminiscent of Hannah in Girls. The presence of Noel Wells and LaKeith Stanfield bring to mind Master of None and Atlanta respectively. Jessica James' New York feels quite similar to Aziz Ansari's vision of the Big Apple. Bringing these influences to the film world can be potentially great but instead Strouse had already surrendered to the romcom formula and seemingly lacks all of the skills necessary to break the formula at all.
The main cast is phenomenal though at trying to elevate this film to any sort of heights. Jessica Williams proves her worth as a leading lady, easily carrying the film. Chris O'Dowd is charming as her love interest, playing a man as broken as Jessica is and forging a bond around that. Noel Wells is delightful even though her character's entire life outside of Jessica seems to revolve around vibrators. LaKeith Stanfield continues to prove he is one of the best young actors period. Short Term 12, Atlanta, Selma, Get Out, Straight Outta Compton. He's great here as well even though most of his work is in these bizarre, somewhat surreal dream sequences that really don't work at all. The first time it happens it's a nice changeup but subsequent attempts only bring vastly diminishing returns.
The Incredible Jessica James features a great cast and a standout leading performance but essentially nothing else of value. Jim Strouse's direction can generously be described as invisible. When he tries to do stretch his talents he falls flat as best demonstrated by the numerous dream sequences. His script is such a paint-by-numbers romcom that the details are probably the only thing you might not have seen before. Except that's not even accurate. It opens on a Tinder date but Master of None already did an entire episode about that. Jessica James is a disappointing film. If the script and direction had been a tenth as inspired as the four leads this could have been a good film. Instead it is just another mediocre romcom in a world that already features hundreds of thousands of those.
Schurmann Score - 5/10
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