Since his on-screen breakthrough as the hapless protagonist in Jeremy Saulnier’s 2013 thriller Blue Ruin, filmmaker Macon Blair has proven himself as something of an all-rounder of indie cinema. Across acting, producing, writing, and directing, his low-budget oeuvre is often laced with a dark streak of humour and he has leaned further into comedy for his latest effort. Previously titled Shitheads until some reluctance from their distributors to promote the film, Idiots follows Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and Mark (Dave Franco) as two recently unemployed down-and-outs who pair up for a job at a transport agency. Assigned the seemingly simple task of escorting privileged teen tearaway Sheridan (Mason Thames) to a rehab clinic, a series of encounters lead to crime and chaos along the way.
Once the titular idiots are introduced and the premise is established, an episodic narrative structure takes shape on the road. Tonally, Blair concocts a heady mix of laidback stoner energy à la Pineapple Express with the anarchic plotting of something like Anora. Each precarious situation they find themselves in, whether just drug-fuelled or dangerous, presents an opportunity for gags but some sequences are a little laboured in their realisation; an incident involving liquid marijuana for example should incite innovation but it goes almost exactly as you would expect. What’s more interesting from Blair and co-writer Alex Orr’s screenplay is the evolving character development – of Davis and Mark in particular. When confronted with threat and violence, they react in very different ways; the former relentless in carrying out his mission with the latter going into survival mode.
This production was a long time in the making before its Sundance debut this year with a lot of coming and going amongst the personnel. Dave Franco, who also serves as a producer, is a great fit for his surprisingly nuanced role and brings his natural charisma and creativity to the fore. Kiernan Shipka also shines in a brief but impactful cameo as an Eastern European sex worker. Audience mileage may vary for this enjoyable but slightly throwaway road movie, but Macon Blair’s Idiots works as a solid vehicle for the talented cast.
