Chris Bowman's "Humble Pie" has many of the hallmarks of the standard indie comedy: a misfit protagonist, quirky subsidiary characters, a small town setting, and a flat, ironic tone.
Hubbel Palmer, who wrote the screenplay, stars as Tracy Orbison, an overweight nerd who compensates for his loneliness and sadness by stuffing his face pretty much nonstop throughout the course of the day. His life, however, begins to look up when he enrolls in an acting class taught by an unctuous, second-rate actor, played winningly by Stephen Baldwin (whose acting is very much in the style of his brother, Alex's). He also befriends a group of local youths who pretend to welcome him into their gang. However, dark clouds are never far from Tracy's horizon, and soon he's been betrayed by the teacher and lured into a life of crime by his new-found compatriots.
"Humble Pie" wanders into some surprisingly unsettling and discomfiting areas for a comedy, even a dark one. It's not everyday, for instance, that your main character is accused – even if unjustly – of child molestation. Still, I like the chances the movie takes with its characters and its world, and Hubbell engages our sympathy and empathy throughout. The movie also features "24'"s Mary Lynn Rajskub as Tracy's levelheaded but almost equally socially awkward sister.
It's more tone-piece than out-and-out uproarious comedy, but "Humble Pie" leaves us satiated in the end.
Hubbel Palmer, who wrote the screenplay, stars as Tracy Orbison, an overweight nerd who compensates for his loneliness and sadness by stuffing his face pretty much nonstop throughout the course of the day. His life, however, begins to look up when he enrolls in an acting class taught by an unctuous, second-rate actor, played winningly by Stephen Baldwin (whose acting is very much in the style of his brother, Alex's). He also befriends a group of local youths who pretend to welcome him into their gang. However, dark clouds are never far from Tracy's horizon, and soon he's been betrayed by the teacher and lured into a life of crime by his new-found compatriots.
"Humble Pie" wanders into some surprisingly unsettling and discomfiting areas for a comedy, even a dark one. It's not everyday, for instance, that your main character is accused – even if unjustly – of child molestation. Still, I like the chances the movie takes with its characters and its world, and Hubbell engages our sympathy and empathy throughout. The movie also features "24'"s Mary Lynn Rajskub as Tracy's levelheaded but almost equally socially awkward sister.
It's more tone-piece than out-and-out uproarious comedy, but "Humble Pie" leaves us satiated in the end.