I wonder whether Jason Schwartzman will have the career vault that Johnny Depp and Robert Downey, Jr., had — whether years of being glorious in non-mainstream roles will suddenly make Hollywood (and the audience) decide that, yes, we always loved this actor and now we want to see more of him because he’s our guy, somehow, right at this moment.
Perhaps you’re thinking Schwartzman is too odd and smart and non-traditional for a “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Iron Man,” and he wouldn’t want that kind of thing anyway. Of course, you might have said that about Depp and Downey in the era of “Dead Man” and “Air America.”
“7 Chinese Brothers” is one of those movies that demonstrate Schwartzman’s unique value on screen.
Put another way, what would this movie be without him? 76 minutes of pleasant doodling, a few postcards from the dropout life in Slackerville, USA — it might be a first draft for a vintage Bill Murray project that never got out of the development stage.
We follow Larry, a minimum-wage employee who does something stupid (stealing money from his job) and does something stupider when he’s fired (keying his manager’s car). Hired at a quick-lube station, Larry gets a crush on his boss, Lupe (Eleanore Pienta), before making the mistake of introducing her to his playboy friend, Major Norwood (Tunde Adebimpe). Larry has a grandma (Olympia Dukakis), and she has money, which might explain his lackadaisical attitude toward planning for the future. Or the present, for that matter.
Writer-director Bob Byington is surely responsible for the hang-loose mood of “7 Chinese Brothers”; if the movie were any more driven, it wouldn’t be true to Larry. Or to Jason Schwartzman, whose gestures and line readings are always new and unexpected.
His try-anything patter, much of which is directed at his phlegmatic bulldog (guys like this do own bulldogs), is reliably funny, and revealing in the sense that Larry is trying not to reveal anything. “I really look forward to going to work,” he says, “which I don’t usually do.” He repeats this instead of admitting he’s interested in Lupe (Pienta is wonderful at conveying someone who has embraced responsibility without turning into a drag).
Schwartzman’s chipper energy fuels this delightful movie, and 76 minutes might be the right amount of time to spend with Larry. Any more than that, and he could be an unwelcome pest — or possibly a friend for life.
“7 Chinese Brothers” (3½ stars)
Jason Schwartzman’s chipper energy fuels this slacker comedy, which is very slight (76 minutes) but rather delightful. He plays a perpetual screw-up who finally finds a reason to come to work — he has a crush on his boss.
Rating: Not rated; probably R for language
Showing: SIFF Uptown
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