“I Used to Be Funny” Review
Rachel Sennott stars in “I Used to Be Funny” as a former nanny and stand-up comic struggling to put her life back on track following a traumatic event.
While attending the American premiere of Canadian filmmaker Chandler Levack’s film “I Like Movies”, I overheard fellow Canadian director Emma Seligman (director of “Bottoms” and “Shiva Baby”) discussing another film from the Great White North that would be making its wide release in America: “I Used to Be Funny”. Written and directed by Ally Pankiw in her feature directorial debut and boasting an amazing leading performance by rising star Rachel Sennott, “I Used to Be Funny” is further proof that the average American filmgoer needs to take special notice about what’s happening in Canada.
In Toronto, Sam Cowell (Rachel Sennott) is a former nanny and comedian who is currently avoiding performance altogether due to a past trauma. Her declining mental health is further exacerbated when Brooke (Olga Petsa), a 14-year-old girl she nannied for, goes missing. After reflecting on her and Brooke’s relationship, Sam resolves to find Brooke and help both of them heal from the horrible events that deteriorated their friendship.
After continuing to impress audiences over and over again with performances in “Shiva Baby”, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and “Bottoms” (the lattermost film she also cowrote with writer/director Emma Seligman), it’s tough to praise Rachel Sennott’s acting without repeating myself. However, I’m going to do it anyway. Sennott is, once again, excellent with a careful and organic balance of humor and drama that sucks the audience into her character’s dilemmas.
Olga Petsa is also marvelous as Brooke, giving the film a volatile and compelling performance that intrigues and invokes immediate attachment. The chemistry Petsa and Sennott share is remarkable and you grow to care for this friendship that is tragically shaken by what has happened to Sam. Ally Pankiw utilizes a nonlinear model for her script, flashing back and forth from when Sam first started looking after Brooke to the present when Sam has not only severed the connection but no longer performs stand-up comedy due to a mental block she now has.
Through these flashbacks, the audience can gradually piece together what has occurred and the consequences it had. To give away this important piece of drama would definitely be considered a spoiler and I don’t wish to be the guy to take that from the audience. Let’s just say that, when it is revealed what happened to Sam, it left me completely speechless. This tragic event made me understand how Brooke and Sam could see the same thing from two different angles. You hope that the pair can mend their bond but you also have the sad thought in the back of your mind that maybe it’s not possible.
In “I Used to Be Funny”, Pankiw’s excellent balance of comedy and drama can feel cut from the same cloth of discomfort as “Shiva Baby” so I feel that fans of Emma Seligman’s 2020 cult hit would be interested in this new film, especially since they both have the same leading lady. However, “Shiva Baby” is a contained film that is more about inducing anxiety in the moment. “I Used to Be Funny” has a more spaced out timeline that is more about repeated cycles of compression and decompression. The whole process of jumping around time feels seamless, a testament to the editing skills of Curt Lobb whose recent work includes the suspensefully tight business drama “Blackberry”.
Tackling uncomfortable subjects in both a serious and comical manner, Pankiw has made something quite memorable that I feel should open up more opportunities for her as an exciting indie voice. While Pankiw has been an excellent director on the small screen, including episodes of “Shrill” and “The Great”, I do hope that a sophomore effort is coming soon. Pankiw’s first film is an excellent dramedy that I would highly recommend, especially if the talents of these actors and filmmakers have appealed to you in the past. It’s another case of putting a bunch of remarkable people together and basking in the story that they have made.
