Zero Charisma

Last updated

Zero Charisma
Zero Charisma Poster.jpg
Directed byKatie Graham
Andrew Matthews
Written byAndrew Matthews
Produced byEzra Venetos Thomas Fernandes
StarringSam Eidson
Anne Gee Byrd
Brock England
Garrett Graham
Cyndi Williams
Cinematography Ellie Ann Fenton
Music by Bobby Tahouri
Production
company
Shark Films Magic Stone Productions
Distributed by Tribeca Film
Nerdist Industries
Release date
  • October 11, 2013 (2013-10-11)
Running time
1 hour 28 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Zero Charisma is a 2013 American comedy film written by Andrew Matthews and co-directed by Matthews and Katie Graham. It stars Sam Eidson, Anne Gee Byrd, Brock England, Garrett Graham, and Cyndi Williams. The film premiered at the South By Southwest film festival in 2013 and later screened at multiple North American Film Festivals including the Maryland Film Festival, the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal and the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Contents

Plot

Scott Weidemeyer (Sam Eidson) is an overweight, surly delivery driver. He has a poor relationship with his family, including his grandmother, Wanda, with whom he lives. Once a week, he hosts a table top game which he rules with an iron fist. One evening, a player abruptly quits the game permanently to work on his marriage. Scott tries to replace him, but his foul temper makes him untouchable to anyone who knows him. While out delivering food to the local game shop he previously worked for, he meets a charismatic hipster named Miles (Garrett Graham.) Scott offers him a place in his game and Miles accepts.

Miles’s friendly and accepting attitude helps him fit in with Scott’s friends, including Wayne (Brock England), Scott’s best friend. But Scott is defensive and touchy around Miles because of all of Miles’ success in life including his attractive girlfriend and running a successful popular culture website.

Hours after the game, Scott's grandmother Wanda (Anne Gee Byrd) has a stroke. His mother Barbara (Cyndi Williams), comes to visit, bringing her 3rd fiancé, Bob (Larry Jack Dotson). Scott is antagonistic towards Barbara, resenting her for leaving him with his grandmother as a boy to go live in a commune. The following week, Scott tries to run a smooth game night but Barbara interrupts, humiliates Scott in front of the group and forces them to end early.

The players decide to host the next game night at Miles's house, which frustrates Scott. Before the game, Scott attempts to impress the group by declaring that The Matrix was written by him in junior high. When Miles begins to poke holes in his claim, Scott begins to yell at Miles and goes to the bathroom to cry. During the game, Miles decides to venture off the story Scott has planned and to kill off an important story non-player character. Scott attempts to cheat his way out of it but Miles's girlfriend catches him. The players tell Scott the game has become too serious and it's no longer fun when he's the dungeon master. Scott has a meltdown and orders them all to leave, but his friends opt to stay and play with Miles instead, which further enrages Scott.

Back at his grandmother's house, Scott finds out his mother wants to sell Wanda's house to settle debt she has accumulated. Barbara manages to convince Wanda to sell the house after offering her a comfortable retirement near Barbara's house in Arizona. An angry Scott, who was promised the house by Wanda, berates his grandmother until she hits him for his disrespect.

Scott returns to the local gaming shop where his hero, Greg Goran (Dakin Matthews), is making an appearance. Scott humbly asks the assistant manager, Pete (John Gholson) for his old job back. During a Q&A, Scott asks a question seeking validation of his attitude and Goran tells Scott that the GM (game master) is responsible for insuring that the players have fun above all else. Scott becomes enraged, cusses out Goran, insults Pete and denigrates the store. Pete then tells the audience that Scott was fired for masturbating to hentai anime pornography in the backroom while the store was being robbed. An angry and humiliated Scott storms out.

Scott blames Miles for everything wrong with his life now. He drives to Miles’s house to confront him and finds Miles is hosting a party. Scott begins drinking and talking with several of Miles's friends. After seeing Scott in his home, Miles calls Wayne and asks him to come get Scott. An intoxicated Scott publicly challenges Miles to a faux battle using crutches as swords. A reluctant Miles agrees, urged on by the party-goers who are amused by Scott’s ridiculous fantasy antics. Scott loses control, lashes out and hits Miles hard in the face. Miles retaliates by striking him in the stomach which puts him on the floor. Wayne, hurt for not being invited to the party and seeing his friend beaten, decides to attack Miles. Miles throws him back and angrily sends them both away. As Wayne drives Scott home, Scott admits he belittled him because he “needed someone to be a bigger loser than me.”

A few months later, Scott is employed at the Arizona retirement home where his grandmother lives. He himself lives with Bob and Barbara, whose marriage is rapidly deteriorating. Happier and more responsible, he plays his game with a small group of seniors. In the final scene, Scott shows a sliver of improvement in his attitude while still clinging to his serious, competitive nature.

Cast

Reception

Zero Charisma received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 77% of 26 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10.The website's consensus reads: "Zero Charisma takes a refreshingly empathetic -- and often quite funny -- look at characters historically marginalized as one-dimesional archetypes." [1] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [2]

A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a B grade, citing the film as one with "perverse pleasures" in its character study of a distinctly unlikeable outcast. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Family Affairs</i> British soap opera

Family Affairs is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per week, followed by an omnibus edition on Sundays. The series never achieved high ratings, so it went through a number of dramatic revamps involving wholesale cast turnover. The premise of the series was also refocused from a family in a quiet suburb just outside London, to a range of different people living on a bustling outer London street.

<i>Strictly Ballroom</i> 1992 film directed by Baz Luhrmann

Strictly Ballroom is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann in his feature directorial debut. The film is the first in his "Red Curtain Trilogy" of theatre-motif-related films; it was followed by 1996's Romeo + Juliet and 2001's Moulin Rouge!

<i>Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker</i> 2000 superhero film by Curt Geda

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is a 2000 American direct-to-video adult animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It is the third film in the DC Animated Universe and is based on the animated series Batman Beyond while also serving as a continuation of and resolving plot points from The New Batman Adventures. The film features the DC Comics superheroes Batman and Terry McGinnis, as they try to unravel the mysterious return of the former's archenemy, the Joker.

<i>Vice Squad</i> (1982 film) 1982 film by Gary Sherman

Vice Squad is a 1982 American exploitation crime thriller film directed by Gary Sherman and starring Wings Hauser, Season Hubley, and Gary Swanson. Its plot follows a Los Angeles businesswoman-turned-prostitute who is enlisted by the Los Angeles Police Department to help apprehend a homicidal and misogynistic pimp. The original music score was composed by Joe Renzetti and Keith Rubinstein. Wings Hauser sang the vocal track for the film's opening and closing theme song, "Neon Slime".

Melvin Richard "Dakin" Matthews is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and theatrical scholar. Best known as Herb Kelcher in My Two Dads (1987–1989), Hanlin Charleston in Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), and as Reverend Sikes in Desperate Housewives (2004–2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Cord</span> American actor (1933-2021)

Alexander Viespi Jr., known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series Airwolf (1984–1986). Early in his career, he was credited as Alex Viespi.

<i>Time of the Gypsies</i> Yugoslav film by Emir Kusturica

Time of the Gypsies is a 1988 Yugoslav coming-of-age fantasy crime drama directed by Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbo-Croatian, Time of the Gypsies tells the story of a young Romani man with magical powers who is tricked into engaging in petty crime. It is widely considered to be one of Kusturica's best films. The film's shooting took place in Sarajevo, Skopje and Milan. It was selected as the Yugoslav entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

<i>PXR5</i> 1979 studio album by Hawkwind

PXR5 is the ninth studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1979. It reached No. 59 on the UK album charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Stephenson (filmmaker)</span> American actor and filmmaker

Michael Stephenson, known professionally as Michael Paul Stephenson, is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing the critically acclaimed documentaries Best Worst Movie and The American Scream. Michael made his narrative feature debut with Girlfriend’s Day, starring Bob Odenkirk. Michael's latest film, Attack of the Murder Hornets, is an original documentary that he directed and produced for Discovery+. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

<i>Paranoia 1.0</i> 2004 American film

Paranoia: 1.0 is a 2004 cyberpunk dystopian horror mystery written and directed by Jeff Renfroe and Marteinn Thorsson. The film is a Kafkaesque nightmare in which a young computer programmer is an unwitting guinea pig in a corporate experiment to test a new advertising scheme. The film stars Jeremy Sisto and Deborah Unger and features Lance Henriksen, Eugene Byrd, Bruce Payne and Udo Kier.

<i>Its Only Money</i> 1962 film by Frank Tashlin

It's Only Money is a 1962 American comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis and was released by Paramount Pictures. It was the final film of Zachary Scott.

<i>The Hi-Lo Country</i> 1998 film by Stephen Frears

The Hi-Lo Country is a 1998 American-Western film directed by Stephen Frears, starring Billy Crudup, Penélope Cruz, Woody Harrelson, Cole Hauser, Sam Elliott, Patricia Arquette, Enrique Castillo, and Katy Jurado. It is set in post-World War II New Mexico and is based on the Western novel by Max Evans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drumma Boy</span> American record producer and rapper

Christopher James Gholson, better known by his stage name Drumma Boy, is an American record producer and rapper.

<i>Murder, He Says</i> 1945 film by George Marshall

Murder, He Says is a 1945 American black comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Fred MacMurray about a murderous rural family and the hapless pollster who becomes entangled in their hunt for a cache of money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Gaboury</span> Musical artist

Stephen Gaboury is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and musical director. In 1988, he created Livewire Production & Recording, a full production digital studio located in Manhattan's Tribeca district. Since 2001, Gaboury has toured internationally with Cyndi Lauper, with whom he received a Grammy nomination for best arrangement in 2004. Gaboury also collaborated on selections in Lauper's Broadway musical, Kinky Boots, which earned thirteen Tony nominations and six wins during its first run in New York City in 2013.

<i>When the Game Stands Tall</i> 2014 American film

When the Game Stands Tall is a 2014 American sports drama film directed by Thomas Carter. The plot concerns a record 151-game 1992–2003 high school football winning streak by De La Salle High School of Concord, California. It stars Jim Caviezel as coach Bob Ladouceur, Laura Dern as Bev Ladouceur, Michael Chiklis as assistant coach Terry Eidson and Alexander Ludwig as running back Chris Ryan. The film is an adaptation of the 2003 book of the same name by Neil Hayes, published by North Atlantic Books. De La Salle head coach Bob Ladouceur retired in January 2013 after winning his last Open Division state championship in December 2012. The film was released on August 22, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Jason</span> American musician, producer and composer

Neil Jason, is an American musician, songwriter, producer and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he has worked with some of the biggest recording artists, including John Lennon, Billy Joel, Roxy Music, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Kiss, Gene Simmons, Michael Jackson, Brecker Brothers, Hall & Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Harry Chapin, Joe Jackson, Charlie Watts, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Diana Ross, Grace Slick, John McLaughlin, Gladys Knight, Debbie Harry, Michael Franks, Bob James, David Sanborn, Brigitte Zarie, Carly Simon, Janis Ian, Nils Lofgren, Eddie Van Halen and tenor Luciano Pavarotti. He also writes for TV and film.

Love Means Zero is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Jason Kohn about tennis coach Nick Bollettieri and his troubled relationship with Andre Agassi.

<i>From Zero to I Love You</i> 2019 romantic drama film

From Zero to I Love You is an American romantic drama film, directed by Doug Spearman and released in 2019. The film stars Darryl Stephens as Pete Logsdon, a gay man whose fear of intimacy has led him to continually fall for married men, and Scott Bailey as Jack Dickinson, a closeted married gay man who becomes Pete's newest love interest and forces both men to confront what they really want in their romantic lives.

References

  1. ↑ "Zero Charisma". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved March 31, 2023. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. ↑ "Zero Charisma". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Zero Charisma". The A.V. Club . October 10, 2013. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.