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Folk Hero & Funny Guy

Play trailer 1:50 Poster for Folk Hero & Funny Guy Released May 12, 2017 1h 28m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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74% Tomatometer 23 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Recently dumped by his fiancee, and with a stagnating stand-up routine, aspiring comedian--copywriter Paul is stuck. The manager of the club where he performs suggests that he take some time off to update his comedy material. When he sees his childhood friend Jason Black, an acclaimed folk-rock musician about to embark on a solo acoustic tour of the East Coast, Jason convinces Paul to go on tour with him and be the opening act for his shows.
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Folk Hero & Funny Guy

Critics Reviews

View All (23) Critics Reviews
Jesse Hassenger AV Club ... Jeff Grace's Folk Hero & Funny Guy doesn't feel like a warmed-over Apatow production, in part because it has the courage to let the "funny guy" half of its duo be kind of a mediocrity in his field. Dec 5, 2017 Full Review Vikram Murthi RogerEbert.com A rambling road trip story with no real point to it. Rated: 1.5/4 May 12, 2017 Full Review Kate Erbland indieWire [An] amiable feature that boasts the kind of old-school charm and chemistry that more comedies could stand to tap into. Rated: B+ May 11, 2017 Full Review Leigh Monson Substream Magazine What Folk Hero & Funny Guy needed was tighter scripting that focused more building humor out of conflict than coasting the structure of a conflict comedy to the finish line. Rated: 2/5 Sep 24, 2020 Full Review Stephen Saito Moveable Fest It never feels less than honest, which for being as entertaining as it is, is no small feat. Mar 1, 2019 Full Review Sean Mulvihill FanboyNation.com Even as it's falling flat dramatically or comically, at least he was dead on with his impeccable casting that really goes a long way in making the film consistently tolerable in its most uninspired moments. Rated: 2.5/5 Oct 31, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (12) audience reviews
Audience Member Folk guy was such a good friend the entire time . His friend was an ungrateful downer . Poor guy has to get a good advertising job so rough. Overall I’m a sucker for folk singer movies tho 3.5 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/16/21 Full Review Audience Member Folk Hero and Funny Guy stars Wyatt Russell and Alex Karpovsky as two lifelong friends. This indie road trip comedy finds both the comedian and the folksy rock singer at a crossroads. Both friends are stuck in a rut working towards a dream but have not made much change in their lives over the past decade. Wyatt proposes an idea to his friend to go on a road trip where Alex will open as the comedian to his folk singer act. Wyatt has promised his friend they have many gigs lined up on this road trip. We soon see the dynamic of Wyatt and Alex as Alex reluctantly agrees to embark on this adventure. Rolling up in a large tour bus shows Wyatt taking the reins and making decisions while Alex meekly accepts his friend's control of the situation. Tour bus is a reminder of the way Wyatt steam rolls over his friend's feelings when he has a differing opinion. The recurring problem of Wyatt making changes to the tour and Alex not standing up for himself will play itself out frequently throughout the picture. Most of the movie centers around the dynamic of their friendship and the places where they have settled in getting along with each other. There have been a lot of good times between the two but painful truths have been ignored for the sake of maintaining a friendship. Spending time with anyone will often invite confrontation and this trip seems to be the thorn in their side. Wyatt is faced with the truth he struggles with committing to anyone in relationships. Alex is forced to confront his issues of not speaking up for himself and deciding to be complacent when making any changes in his life. These issues come to the surface realistically with dialogue you genuinely believe occurs between two friends. The film takes a while for the characters to get to the point they can admit not everything is going as smoothly as they would like. I enjoyed the pace of the movie allowing you to get to know the characters and hoping they would confront the issues plaguing them most of their lives. Wyatt is charming and affable as the folk singer. A genuine heart makes him more likeable and he is not some shallow rock singer. Well, at least he is not shallow all of the time and you feel he does care about his friend. Alex is awkward and everything his friend is not. He struggles to find any footing in his confidence and the actor plays the comedian as down to earth. Also, there are natural humorous moments when he is himself. Another truth is the comedian is not funny when he has forced jokes and humor should be something coming out of natural situations. Writing makes the characters feel real and a good balance exists between the friends. Both actors are able to play the characters straight forward but interact as real friends would. Most of the writing appears as though two friends wrote the script together. There are so many movies I have seen where things feel forced between the friends but here the friendship is anything but forced. There is not much plot development in this film and the film does not have much to say. Most of the message centers around people may not change but the view of a friendship can change with time. Some people do not change but the dynamics can change especially when others have confidence to speak their truths. Overall, the movie is nice for a one-time watch of what feels like a real friendship. There are not many scenes too memorable where I would look to watch this film again. The film also does not really go in different directions than other road trip comedies before it. Most of the movie is subtle and happy to wind along a freewheeling path with little direction. The protagonists of this film are forced to confront their own issues and how that impacts their friendship. I did enjoy this movie and the realistic dialogue. I did not laugh out loud but I found myself chuckling. My hope is Wyatt will do more comedies because I found him perfectly cast in this role as the free spirit. Most people will find a fun, breezy movie but has touches of cynicism when it comes to relationship. Also, a nice discovery is that you can relate to these characters. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review brendan n The film is a funny road trip drama that incorporates some of the funny character moments. Road Trip movies have the luxury of solving conflict and discovering yourself, most people do it in real life. The two leads are well cast and the film is full of fun support actors. The film never attempts to be a grand story and it hits the right beats by allowing the characters to be true. The music is really well done and adds further depth to the film, music can transcend a persons real feelings. The film has that dynamic between the two leads and most of the humour comes from their interactions. This was a nice surprise and one of the better indie films of 2017. 19-11-2017. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Funny road trip bromance. Love Wyatt Russell. First time seeing him was on Netflix original Shimmer Lake- another good flick to see. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member A hell of a lot of cringe humour and an average enough road movie. Just about scraped three stars. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Folk Hero & Funny Guy had zoveel beter kunnen zijn als de personages ook een echt doel hadden om na te streven, iets dat in de laatste akte helemaal van de tafel gegooid wordt. Simpele kost voor amateuristische independent filmliefhebbers. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

Public Schooled 86% 61% Public Schooled Watchlist TRAILER for Public Schooled Brave New Jersey 56% 33% Brave New Jersey Watchlist TRAILER for Brave New Jersey Austin Found 21% 78% Austin Found Watchlist TRAILER for Austin Found Egg 100% 40% Egg Watchlist TRAILER for Egg Punching Henry 75% 61% Punching Henry Watchlist TRAILER for Punching Henry Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Recently dumped by his fiancee, and with a stagnating stand-up routine, aspiring comedian--copywriter Paul is stuck. The manager of the club where he performs suggests that he take some time off to update his comedy material. When he sees his childhood friend Jason Black, an acclaimed folk-rock musician about to embark on a solo acoustic tour of the East Coast, Jason convinces Paul to go on tour with him and be the opening act for his shows.
Director
Jeff Grace
Producer
Ryland Aldrich, Jeff Grace
Screenwriter
Jeff Grace
Distributor
Gravitas Ventures
Production Co
Gravitas Ventures, Spitfire Studios, Vacationeer Productions, Chhibber Mann Productions
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 12, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 12, 2017
Runtime
1h 28m
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