Paul Weitz | Through the Shattered Lens

You don’t necessarily have to be from a Catholic background to find The Little Hours to be hilarious but it probably helps. You also don’t have to be an expert in satirical Italian literature from the Medieval era but, again, it probably helps. Of course, what helps the most is to have a good sense of humor.

Technically, The Little Hours is based on The Decameron, though not even that famously bawdy book featured dialogue like, “Don’t fucking talk to us!” and “Stop fucking looking at us!” Both of those lines are delivered by Aubrey Plaza, who plays a nun in a medieval convent. The fact that Plaza is playing a nun tells you a lot about the humor in The Little Hours. The sets and the costumes are meticulously accurate. It’s easy to imagine that, if you got your hands on a time machine and traveled back to the Fourteenth Century, what you would see would look a lot like The Little Hours. But the dialogue and the attitudes are all straight from the 21st century.

The Little Hours tells the story of three nuns and the people who get in their way. Aubrey Plaza plays Sister Fernanda, the sarcastic nun who is willing to beat up anyone who looks at her for too long. Ginerva (Kate Micucci) is the repressed nun who can’t wait to get everyone else in trouble. Alessandra (Alison Brie) is the nun who is only a nun because her father (Paul Reiser) is making her.

When you’re bored and stuck in a convent, you find interesting ways to keep yourself amused. For instance, gossip is always a fun way to pass the time. Or you can get drunk on communion wine. If you get really bored, you can always join the local coven and dance around a fire. Or you can lust after the new handyman, a handsome deaf-mute named Massetto (Dave Franco). Of course, Massetto isn’t really a deaf-mute. He’s just pretending because he doesn’t want to be executed for having sex with his former master’s wife. Life was never easy in medieval Italy.

The film may be based on The Decameron but all of the dialogue was improved. Whenever I hear that anything’s been improvised, I always know that the end result is either going to be hilarious or it’s simply going to be unbearable. Fortunately, the cast of The Little Hours is full of comedic pros. They all play off of each other well. Each line of dialogue seems like a challenge being delivered by both the character and the performer. Behind every joke is a subtext of “Try to top this.” Supporting roles are played by everyone from Molly Shannon to Nick Offerman to John C. Reilly. Fred Armisen plays the Bishop who has the unenviable task of trying to keep straight everything that’s happened and his display of exasperation is absolutely brilliant.

As you can probably guess, I enjoyed The Little Hours. It’s probably not a film for everyone. As I said, it helps to not only have a Catholic background but to also have a sense of humor about it. But, for those in the right mood, it’s a hilarious film.

Nothing ages worse than heavy-handed satire and, if you need proof of that, just try watching the 2006 film American Dreamz. American Dreamz is a satire of two things that are no longer exactly relevant, the presidential administration of George W. Bush and Simon Cowell-era American Idol.

Dennis Quaid plays President ~~George W. Bush~~ Joseph Stanton. Stanton has just been reelected to a second term. One morning, he impulsively decides to read a newspaper for the first time in his life and he ends up having a nervous breakdown. “The world isn’t black-and-white,” he declares, “Instead, it’s gray.” Sinking into a deep depression, Stanton isolates himself from the American people and his approval rating starts to plunge. His evil Chief of Staff (William DaFoe, made up to look like Joe Biden but, I’m assuming, meant to be Dick Cheney) comes up with a plan to restore Stanton’s popularity. President Stanton will serve as a guest judge on his favorite television show, ~~American Idol~~ American Dreamz!

(To be honest, I think Obama would be more likely to show up as a guest judge than Bush.)

The host of American Dreamz is a self-loathing Englishman named Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant). Tweed hates both the show and himself. Early on in the film, he’s literally seeing begging for American Dreamz to be canceled. However, American Dreamz is the number one show in the country and the show must go on.

Along with President Stanton, the latest season of American Dreamz features a group of contestants who all have dramatically compelling backstories. Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore) emerges as a favorite, largely do to her ability to manipulate the camera and the fact that her well-meaning but simple-minded boyfriend (Chris Klein) was wounded in Iraq.

Oh wow — reality shows manipulate reality and contestants are rarely as innocent as they seem!?

Tell me more, American Dreamz!

Also competing on American Dreamz is Omer (Sam Golzari), a former jihadist who proved to be too clumsy to take part in the various propaganda videos being shot by his terrorist cell. Omer was sent to America, where his love for show tunes eventually landed him on American Dreamz. With the finale rapidly approaching, Omer has been instructed to blow both himself and the President up on national TV.

The satire of American Dreamz really wasn’t all that sharp when the film was first released and now, 9 years later, it feels even weaker. Quaid and Grant both give good performances but the film’s attempts at humor largely fall flat because they’re all so predictable. It’s not exactly mind-blowing to say that reality TV is fake or that politics has a lot in common with show business. The film attempts to add some bite to its message by ending with a surprisingly dark twist but it’s just not enough. Even a dark ending has to be earned.