“Self Reliance” Review
Jake Johnson outruns hunters trying to kill him for a million dollar prize in “Self Reliance”, Johnson’s directorial debut that is set to premiere on Hulu.
Despite all of our complaints about how much we hate people and how independent we’d like to be, the fact of the matter is that we need people. We need authentic interaction and this need has resulted in some excellent comedies like “Groundhog Day” or “Palm Springs”. In his directorial debut, comedy actor Jake Johnson has made a bizarre and reasonable entertaining film called “Self Reliance” which deals with the themes of community while having a sly sense of humor.
Tommy Walcott (Jake Johnson) works a dead-end job, is still moping over the end of his previous relationship and lives with his mom. He feels stuck and directionless when, one day, he’s approached by Andy Samberg in a limousine who takes him to this group of European guys that offer Tommy a unique challenge. The men are in charge of a reality game show on the dark web where they want Tommy to compete as a contestant. In the game, hunters will try to kill him and, if Tommy survives for 30 days, he will be awarded one million dollars. However, there is one twist that could be considered a loophole to the game. In order to prevent any civilian casualties, the hunters can only kill Tommy when he’s alone so, if he wants to live, Tommy must spend all of his time with others.
As the star, writer, producer and director of “Self Reliance”, Jake Johnson makes an effective use of the film’s premise with great humor centered around how he can stay within short distances of others even though his family doesn’t believe that this game exists. In this role, Johnson brings the usual level of comedic charm that has been on wonderful display in projects like “New Girl”, “Tag” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”. But as a director, Johnson takes a slower approach than I would expect from a film like this. When Tommy first joins the game, he doesn’t even see hunters for quite a while and instead has to convince people and even himself that this game is real. What this choice does is make Tommy more relatable and also finds the film's humor more in interaction rather than insanity.
Through this journey, Tommy meets a woman named Maddy (Anna Kendrick), who also is playing the game, and they resolve to spend all of their time together in order to stay safe. The relationship that unfolds between the two of them is very magnetic and you appreciate the connection that Tommy has made after shutting out people for so long.
With the game, there’s not only a sense of danger that emerges, but also of paranoia. When Tommy and Maddy see something strange, they’re not sure if it’s just people being weird or if they are hunters waiting for the right moment to kill them. It’s these scenes of confusion that result in the film’s biggest laughs as well as moments where the film takes a bizarre turn with its imagery.
While the film works on a comedic level, it’s more inconsistent with its dramatic side. I don’t think that “Self Reliance” always landed with its more emotional moments particularly concerning the character that Christopher Lloyd plays. However, there’s also a riveting conversation involving Tommy and his ex-girlfriend (Natalie Morales) that did leave a substantial impact. The film also has a twist concerning this game that I don’t think was as well thought out as it should have been. It doesn’t hurt the film too much but the “explanation” of why Johnson has been selected for this game felt unnecessary.
With “Self Reliance”, there’s a strong desire by Johnson to combine ridiculous comedy with elements of drama at the core. For the most part, Johnson succeeds and the film is an interesting comedy that I think will succeed at entertaining with the charisma of its chief creative force and the routes Johnson takes with the story.
