Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
I saw a number of incredible films while attending the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, but the funniest part of my entire trip was a Q&A featuring Nick Offerman and Jason Mantzoukas at Cinema Cafe. Offerman was promoting his sensational musical dramedy Hearts Beat Loud (which is currently streaming on Hulu), and Mantzoukas made the trip to Park City for the world premiere of his frenetic road trip comedy The Long Dumb Road.
Now streaming on Netflix, Hannah Fidell’s pleasantly chaotic comedy is a film you should go out of your way to stream. The movie follows a sheltered art school student (Nat, portrayed by Tony Revolori) and a freewheeling mechanic (Richard, played by the aforementioned Mantzoukas) who are brought together by chance and embark on a serendipitous road trip. The film succeeds for many reasons, but The Long Dumb Road achieves hidden gem status thanks to Fidell and co-writer Carson D. Mell’s deft script and the infectious opposites attract chemistry between Revolori and Mantzoukas.
The movie is a live wire of realistic chaos, embracing the disparate characteristics of its leads in a fun, earnest manner. Mantzoukas’ Richard is a destabilizing presence by design, but he’s not a cartoonishly terrible person. He’s just… a lot. He’s the type of guy who goes from A to Z at a breakneck pace without giving a second thought to L, M, N, O, P. He’s impulsive and flawed as all get-out, but he’s also the type of guy who’ll have your back in a bar fight toot sweet, which makes him the perfect foil for the guileless Nat.
The Long Dumb Road is not only a well-penned love letter to the road trip genre, but it oscillates between genuine moments of sentimentality and silly pockets of organic hilarity (the Fast and Furious conversation, for example). It’s a charming snapshot of the ephemeral bond you forge with someone during a transformative experience. It doesn’t romanticize the grind of the road, but instead explores the realities of traveling with a sporadically unhinged stranger.
Even the title’s perfect too, because I almost always find the road to be both long and dumb.
If you enjoy the comedy of Jason Mantzoukas, The Long Dumb Road is as must-see as it gets. He’s peak Mantzoukas in this film and a host of familiar faces — Casey Wilson, Grace Gummer, Taissa Farmiga, and Ron Livingston — drop by to enhance the fun. The Long Dumb Road is all the fun of a road trip with zero of the hassle. Win/win.
