I'm drawn to Larry David's comedy by the constant stream of misanthropy running through it. It's there in all its glory in CLEAR HISTORY, a light farce about one of life's perennial losers. As a dissatisfied middle-aged Baby Boomer, I can relate to much that happens here, so I found it very funny throughout and laughed a lot, a rare experience for me when confronted with most contemporary comedy. (I also laughed a lot at BRIDESMAIDS.) If you don't share Mr. David's particular sensibility, you might not find it funny. Be forewarned. To me, David is the spiritual heir of that great Hollywood misanthrope, W.C. Fields, my all-time comedy favorite.
I thought David made an excellent leading man and is supported by a large cast of supporting players of varying degrees of stardom. I particularly enjoyed Michael Keaton as a bitter, somewhat crazy villager recruited into David's far-fetched vengeance plot. Kate Hudson is delightful as an upper-class wife not immune to the simpler charms of life on Martha's Vineyard as lived by the year-round residents who make up the bulk of the film's cast of characters. I thought the actress who played Jennifer, a local waitress whom Mr. David seems to like, looked a lot like Eva Mendes, but was sure it wasn't her until I saw her name in the end credits. What a pleasant surprise! I'd never seen J.B. Smoove before, but I enjoyed his performance as a black resident and thwarted suitor of Jennifer who loudly resents David's casual displays of seemingly ingrained racism and devises a most effective means of payback. The rock band, Chicago, plays a role in the backstory of several of the characters and four of the band members make cameo appearances. Their songs are heard at several points on the soundtrack as well.
I was especially pleased to see several film clips from King Vidor's version of THE FOUNTAINHEAD (1949), based on Ayn Rand's novel, used here to provide the inspiration for David's method of revenge against the man who arguably cheated him out of a billion-dollar payday. That man, Will Haney, well played by Jon Hamm, is the self-important billionaire creator of the energy-saving mini-car called the Howard, named, ironically, after Howard Roark, the protagonist of Rand's novel. A running gag throughout the film is the frequent sight of little Howards, with their oversized neon H emblazoned on the back, cluttering up highways and parking lots at every location used in the film. That such a tiny car would ever be so massively popular is just one of the film's many amusing absurdist conceits.
I thought David made an excellent leading man and is supported by a large cast of supporting players of varying degrees of stardom. I particularly enjoyed Michael Keaton as a bitter, somewhat crazy villager recruited into David's far-fetched vengeance plot. Kate Hudson is delightful as an upper-class wife not immune to the simpler charms of life on Martha's Vineyard as lived by the year-round residents who make up the bulk of the film's cast of characters. I thought the actress who played Jennifer, a local waitress whom Mr. David seems to like, looked a lot like Eva Mendes, but was sure it wasn't her until I saw her name in the end credits. What a pleasant surprise! I'd never seen J.B. Smoove before, but I enjoyed his performance as a black resident and thwarted suitor of Jennifer who loudly resents David's casual displays of seemingly ingrained racism and devises a most effective means of payback. The rock band, Chicago, plays a role in the backstory of several of the characters and four of the band members make cameo appearances. Their songs are heard at several points on the soundtrack as well.
I was especially pleased to see several film clips from King Vidor's version of THE FOUNTAINHEAD (1949), based on Ayn Rand's novel, used here to provide the inspiration for David's method of revenge against the man who arguably cheated him out of a billion-dollar payday. That man, Will Haney, well played by Jon Hamm, is the self-important billionaire creator of the energy-saving mini-car called the Howard, named, ironically, after Howard Roark, the protagonist of Rand's novel. A running gag throughout the film is the frequent sight of little Howards, with their oversized neon H emblazoned on the back, cluttering up highways and parking lots at every location used in the film. That such a tiny car would ever be so massively popular is just one of the film's many amusing absurdist conceits.
