The Gutter Movie review -

 Comedy movies nowadays usually eliminate all logic to put emphasis on laughs that, especially in this day and age, barely even stick thelanding. In fact, I don’t think i’ve even seen a ‘good’ sole comedy film this year that isn’t intertwined with other genres. Then, after browsing the London film festival schedule, I came across ‘The Gutter’ - starring Shamiek Moore and Susan Sarandon. The movie follows Walt, who lands work at a bowling alley with rich black-cultural history that is soon set to close due to poor maintenance - though, after a random muck-around with bowling pins, Walt finds out he’s extremely good at bowling, and enters tournaments to keep the alley alive. Whilst the film does have its shortcomings, it’s still one of the best comedies i’ve seen this year, even though it blows all logic out of thewindow. 

If someone gave me a penny for how many times characters do silly things and act stupidly in this movie, i would be rich - this film really diminishes its logic very early on, though it embraces this fact. It’s a self-aware movie, and that’s what I appreciate about it. In terms of other aspects of the narrative, for a film that turns its focus to comedy, this is one that is surprisingly unpredictable - this film doesn’t go or end in the way you would expect a film like this to, and this definitely added to my enjoyment factor and overall takeaways with this movie. 

As for our characters, they are pretty bland and one-dimensional - especially for a protagonist. There isn’t much backstory or development/enhancement to them as we go on, apart from a few generic beats in the final acts. However, the jokes that fly out of these characters mouths are what really crank this movie up a notch. The Lester brothers, our directors, really infuse satirical comedy within this narrative stemming from their own backgrounds as black individuals, and it really works as culturally relevant but also enjoyable humor. And at times, it even gets dark, mixing typical beats from this form of comedy with thecultural relevance to create a style of humor that you may need to get used to if you want to be entertained by. But once you do, you’ll have the time of your life.  

Shameik Moores performance, I should also note, is fantastic. It’s great seeing him a light-hearted role, and he kills it - showcasing his versatility. The same goes for Susan Sarandon who is this movies ‘antagonist’. 

Ultimately, The Gutter infuses satire stemming from the Lester brothers backgrounds to create some great humor that amalgamates with an unpredictable narrative to create one of thefunniest, enjoyable, and unique watches of theyear despite its many shortcomings - and I would recommend it because of that