Don't Think Twice

The newest addition to my Hidden Gems columns over at BoxOfficeProphets.com

Writer/director Mike Birbiglia’s 2016 film Don’t Think Twice is the exact kind of movie the Hidden Gems column was made for. It’s a small, low-key, almost bittersweet look at the life of a group of performers in the improv comedy scene in New York City. The movie has a lot of comedy in it, both in the kind that’s funny and in the kind that we observe the group performing. Overall it’s also kind of a drama, but not really. It’s one of those great types of movies that reflects life in the most human and beautiful way. There’s friendship and love and jealousy and supportiveness and misfits-making-a-family and all other kinds of wonderful themes and behaviors.

We first see the improv group The Commune backstage getting ready for a show in the small theater they rent. Miles (Birbiglia) seems like a kind of leader of the group, though it’s Sam (Gillian Jacobs) that MC’s and takes suggestions from the audience. Sam’s boyfriend Jack (Keegan-Michael Key) is the charismatic “star quality” type performer of the crew, while Allison (Kate Micucci), Lindsay (Tami Sagher), and Bill (Chris Gethard) fill out the rest of the scenes with able supporting work. But, of course, in the world of improv, there are no stars, because it’s not about the individual, it’s about the team and the overall performance and success of the show. That is until word comes one night that a producer from Weekend Live (the SNL stand-in for the movie) will be in the audience, scouting for talent.

We see what happens to the group as it begins to splinter when Jack gets the gig on Weekend Live. He is raised to a whole new bar of performance, one which the Commune gathers around the TV to hate-watch every week, simultaneously proud of Jack, jealous of his success, and disgusted at the lowest common denominator comedy. Jack, meanwhile, now has to navigate the cutthroat world of “me first” comedy that’s totally antithetical to the community that got him there. Miles becomes bitter, because he was Jack’s teacher. He should have that success, he taught Jack everything he knows (obviously ignoring the work Jack put into his craft, along with his natural charisma, and is a stance that hurts Jack's feelings, though he doesn't say it). Sam starts to see her relationship with Jack (lovingly handled in touching moments of subtlety by Birbiglia as a director) slowly crumbling away as Jack’s work schedule and their conflicting ideas and ambitions clash. Jack isn’t trying to leave behind his cohorts, in fact he’s willing to stick his neck out to try and at least get the others in the group onto the show as writers, despite repeatedly being told not to do that by those behind the scenes of the new show. Still, resentments and tensions rise, and relationships are put to the test, sometimes even during the performance of the show.

Just the story of Jack, Sam, and Miles is enough to make a good movie about, but Birbiglia as a writer also doesn’t skimp on characterizations of the other three in the group. Bill, Allison, and Lindsay are all given wonderfully written subplots so that we know who they are (and all three actors give really terrific and heartfelt performances too). They aren’t there just to fill out the scenery, these are all real people we come to know over the 92 minute runtime. And this is really solid writing, not just the “give each person one defining characteristic so that the audience can easily keep up” type mainstream comedy writing we’re so used to. It’s a wonderful ensemble of characters, each brought to amazing life by the cast.

Though I must admit, even as improv is a group activity, the stars of the movie are Gillian Jacobs and Keegan-Michael Key as Sam and Jack. Jacobs’ huge eyes and delicate delivery lets us into Sam’s journey of owning her own power and talent and where she fits in the world. She is luminous in the role and I hope gets some real acting work from it as well, I’d love to see more of her. Key, as Jack, is truly extraordinary in his ability to show the rumbling, boiling, overflowing thoughts and ideas and emotions going on inside Jack that he may or may not share with Sam or the rest of the group. There are scenes that brought tears to my eyes in the humanity that Key brings to the role. Having only known Key from his work on Key and Peele and MadTV, I did not expect the depth of characterization he brings to Jack. Jack is complex and fascinating and that he gets to bounce off of the same qualities coming from Jacobs’ Sam is all the more intriguing and delightful to watch.

Mike Birbiglia is a stand-up comic by trade, that’s how I first came to know him with his specials like What I Should’ve Said Was Nothing, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, and multiple Comedy Central Presents showcases. He was always funny, but also often sprinkled in some poignancy and heart into the stories he was telling. And that’s what he slowly became, less stand-up comic and more long form storyteller. So, naturally he’s a great fit for the movies because he’s not just a joke man (though he does have great jokes). He made his first foray into filmmaking with 2012’s Sleepwalk with Me, based on his off-Broadway one man show of the same name. And while Sleepwalk with Me is really good, and you should check it out as well, it doesn’t have quite the impact that Don’t Think Twice has. Both are available to stream on Netflix, as are three of Birbiglia’s stand up specials.

Rarely do we get a movie with characters this well drawn, this balanced in the ensemble, to where we come out really caring about some of these people. Cameo appearances by actors like Lena Dunham and Ben Stiller (as hosts of Weekend Live) are nice, and not overplayed or overused by Birbiglia, since he knows his characters are the show here. They are the reason this movie works. The writing and the brilliant and unshowy work from each and every one of the performers, that’s what makes this movie such a gem.