Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Macon Blair
Starring: Dave Franco, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Mason Thames, Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, Peter Dinklage
On the surface, Idiots might seem like a hipster rethread of Hal Ashby's The Last Detail. In Ashby's film a pair of sailors - one serious-minded, the other a screw-up - are tasked with escorting a young recruit to a naval prison. Writer/director Macon Blair's film sees a similarly mismatched odd couple charging with transporting an unruly teen to a rehab clinic. Blair's movie deviates considerably from its similar predecessor in one specific way. In The Last Detail we root for the sailors to disobey their orders and set their likeable young charge free. That certainly isn't the case here.
The mismatched duo here are Davis (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) and Mark (Dave Franco). Davis is a church-goer who always tries to do his best but keeps screwing up regardless. Mark is a slacker who always looks for a shortcut. The two are thrown together when they both lose their jobs and end up working for an agency that specialises in transporting delinquents to rehab. Davis and Mark are charged with ensuring Sheridan (Mason Thames) gets to a clinic.
We think we know what to expect from this scenario. Sheridan will be revealed as a troubled and misunderstood young man who will earn the sympathy of Davis and Mark, right? Nope. Sheridan, who seems inspired by influencers like Clavicular and Jake Paul, is an unrepentant scumbag whose wealthy family has allowed him to avoid jail time for various heinous acts, including setting a homeless man on fire. If we don't hate Sheridan enough from the off, his treatment of a stripper (Kiernan Shipka's Irina) seals the deal. We want this little shit to get what's coming, and it's clear this is a film made by a Gen-Xer who is sick of a certain type of young man and their bullshit.
There is a seething class anger under the surface of Idiots' broad comedy. The movie is keen to contrast those struggling to eke out livings in the gig economy with the easy life of Sheridan, who along with his familial wealth makes a comfortable living behaving like an asshole on social media for his near million followers. There is an ongoing thread of Davis always trying to do the right thing and having it backfire while Sheridan is rewarded for being a sociopath. Somewhere in the middle is Mark, who initially harbours some envious admiration for Sheridan, only to increasingly become repelled by his vile nature. Mark might be a narcissist always looking for an easy way out, but unlike Sheridan he isn't willing to hurt others to get his way.
For all its anger at societal injustice, Idiots is first and foremost a comedy. The comedy doesn't always work, and some of the jokes are run into the ground, but much of it lands thanks to Blair's understanding of timing and the central odd couple performances of Jackson Jnr. and Franco. In some ways this is a modern version of the action comedies of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, with Jackson Jnr. taking the Spencer role of the big burly guy constantly infuriated by his handsome partner's inability to take life seriously. Jackson Jnr. and Franco make for such a compelling straight man/clown duo that you could see their dynamic fuelling an entire franchise. But it's rising star Thames who quietly steals the show with a chilling and all too recognisable portrait of an entitled sociopath who knows they're above the law. When a social worker pleads Sheridan's case, she suggests that he has the potential to one day become the President. It's all too believable.
Idiots is on UK/ROI VOD from October 2nd.
