BIG NOTHING
CAST: David Schwimmer, Simon Pegg, Alice Eve
I personally love black comedies; movies like burn after reading and Fargo are one of my favourites. Big nothing, directed by Jean-batiste Andréa falls under a similar category. It had a very limited release only in England so the majority of viewers are mostly unaware of this movie. Let’s get this clear upfront, big nothing is a fantastic movie, with a twisted, macabre sense of humor and is one of the most mean spirited comedies to come out in quite some time and it’s the fantastic finale that escalates this movie from mediocrity to a piece of sheer brilliance.
Charlie(Schwimmer) is a failed novelist who lives with his cop wife and their young daughter. He is desperate to bring happiness to the family, one day, he lands a job at a call center and Is fired on the first day because of his co-worker Gus(Pegg). Guilty that he mistakenly lost Charlie his job, Gus, who himself has financial problems and a daughter requiring eye surgery, lets Charlie in on his “completely violence free” scheme to blackmail a pedophile reverend who visits pornographic websites more times a day than he prays to god. The plan is simple, call the reverend, threaten to expose him and get 100, 000 dollars in cash. The cautious and ‘goody goody Charlie agrees as he believes this will solve all his problems. After Gus’s former girlfriend Josie (Alice eve) also becomes a part of the scheme, the plan is put into action.
What was a simple call, threaten and receive tons of cash plan spirals out of control due to some unfortunate circumstances as they find themselves involved in a whirlwind of madness that involves, snuff movies, adultery, a serial killer, missing bodies, mistaken identities and a FBI agent with a knack for finding the truth. What catches your attention is how this seemingly danger free, simple blackmail scheme results in utter chaos. Once Gus goes to the reverend’s house to collect the money, the movie turns into a goldmine of comedy, twists and turns. At the end of the 90 minutes, all the characters are not who you thought they were but end up as completely different people. Another plus point is the character development, you find something new about every character every few minutes. I will not spoil the ending, see it for yourself but say one thing I will, the ending of this movie was probably the most genuine one I have seen in movies, extremely true to life and even after the movie is over the viewer will have questions spinning around his heads, and those are the movies that are special, the ones that make you use your brain.
Shot in Wales, and set in Oregon, the locales have a very serene feel about them, despite of the fact that dead bodies keep falling here and there every few minutes. The cinematography is brilliant, the movie has been shot with skewed angles, and three way split screen, giving it a very stylized look.
Now to the performances. Every dark crime-gone-wrong comedy has that crazy but funny character in it. In BIG, that guy is Simon pegg.
Pegg delivers an amazing performance. his comedic timing is brilliant, he’s a real scene stealer in this one. A brilliant actor. David Schwimmer, another heavily underrated actor does a brilliant job of shedding his ‘Ross’ and is a complete natural. Also metion worthy is the chemistry between Pegg and Schwimmer, they are in complete sync with each other. Alice eve strikingly pretty and proves that she can hold her own when pitted against actors of the caliber of Pegg and Schwimmer and is brilliant towards the end, where everything becomes topsy turvy.
All in all, Big nothing is an underrated unappreciated and under viewed movie which is nonetheless a fantastic move that finds the right balance between the humor and the dead bodies falling everywhere. Fans of the Coen brothers and Guy Ritchie will immensely enjoy this rollercoaster ride, which has plenty of turns specially towards the end. so do yourself a favor and watch big nothing. Strongly recommended.