THE JIMMY SHOW (2001)

What a pleasant surprise THE JIMMY SHOW turned out to be!

I picked up a copy of the film because it features Ethan Hawke, my new favorite contemporary actor, in a supporting role. Hawke's filmography is quite extensive, and I'm trying to fill in the gaps as much as possible. So I like to peruse the titles available at Oldies.com and take advantage of sale prices. This title came up, one that I'd never heard of. Nor had I ever heard of Frank Whaley, the director and star of the film. After researching his career, I learned Whaley has an extensive filmography of his own, going back to the year 1987. And I've seen some of his films: IRONWEED, FIELD OF DREAMS, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, THE DOORS, JFK, and PULP FICTION. Still, I wasn't familiar with his name. After seeing THE JIMMY SHOW, I will be looking for his films as I do Ethan Hawke's.

The film is based on an Off-Broadway play entitled VEINS AND THUMBTACKS, written by Jonathan Marc Sherman. Whaley plays Jimmy O'Reilly, a warehouse worker who aspires to be a standup comedian. He lives with, and takes care of, his invalid grandmother (Lynn Cohen), who raised him. At the film's beginning, his longtime girlfriend, Annie (Carla Gugino), announces she's pregnant, and the two marry and take up residence with Jimmy's grandmother. The couple has a daughter, Wendy (Jillian Stacom). Jimmy is irresponsible at his job and also steals cases of beer from his employer on a regular basis. His best friend at the warehouse, a slacker-type named Ray (Ethan Hawke) keeps warning Jimmy that he's bound to get caught and get fired. There's a local comedy club that has an open mic night, and Jimmy starts appearing there. His attempts at comedy fail miserably, so he begins talking seriously about his life. He gets practically no audience response until some people began heckling him. He heckles them right back. Jimmy loses his warehouse job and ends up in a series of low paying jobs that don't last long due to his behavior. His wife leaves him, and he's devastated by the loss of his family. His club performances become more and more downbeat and cynical as his life spins further out of control.

The circumstances of this story can't be called groundbreaking or even terribly original. But the film is an extremely well constructed and well acted character study. Jimmy O'Reilly is similar to many other cinematic characters we've seen quit often. He's a man who is so caught up in his own desperate delusions and dreams that he isn't able to face the reality he's living inside of. Jimmy suffers one bad break after another, but much of his misfortune is brought on by his own bad choices and lack of responsibility. On the other hand, he accepts, sometimes grudgingly, his responsibility to his grandmother, and for the most part treats her with patience and consideration. He also truly loves his wife and daughter, and that love is returned. But he is unable to sacrifice his ill-fated comedy club dreams and do what's necessary to be a good provider. Frank Whaley is excellent as Jimmy, He's 100% sympathetic, and 100% exasperating at the same time. Carla Gugino, another name I wasn't at all familiar with, does an equally good job as Jimmy's wife.

As for Ethan Hawke, my reason for watching this film in the first place, he gives his usual believable performance as Ray, the slacker, who turns out to be much more solid and responsible than Jimmy. It's interesting to compare the two characters. At first, Jimmy's drive and ambition to make himself into more than just a warehouse worker makes the laid back Ray seem like a pathetic loser. As the story progresses, however, Ray is the one who has more of a grasp on his reality and his need to keep his job and get with the program of living a stable existence, while Jimmy proves himself the consummate slacker.

This film would make a good companion piece to one of my favorite Dollar Tree discoveries, the 2017 film MADTOWN, starring Milo Ventimiglia as another aspiring standup comedian whose monologues at an open mic club reveal the hard, sad truths of his past. Maybe I need to start hanging out at comedy clubs and soak up some real life drama.

THE JIMMY SHOW was filmed on location on Staten Island. Frank Whaley had directed another film there in 1999:  JOE THE KING, also with Ethan Hawke in the cast. 

My one complaint about the film is the piano-based musical score, which was overused and too lighthearted for the downbeat proceedings. When the same music was played over the end credits, I muted the sound because I was tired of hearing it. 

THE JIMMY SHOW played at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2002.