I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With Review
Posted by Jacob Ziegler on 09.08.2007
Jeff Garlin's feature-film directorial debut...
I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH
/// September 5, 2007
James: Jeff Garlin
Stella Lewis: Bonnie Hunt
Mrs. Pilletti: Gina Gershon
Ms. Clark: Amy Sedaris
Beth: Sarah Silverman
IFC Films presents a film written and directed by Jeff Garlin. Running time: 80 minutes. Not rated.
BY JACOB ZIEGLER
I went through a lot of trouble to see this movie. My first chance was at the Tribeca Film Festival in April of 2006. My sister and I got to the AMC theater on 34th Street several hours early and got in the will call line. There were maybe four people ahead of us. We were all told that about 10 minutes before show time, around eight tickets would be available. We liked our chances.
What ended up happening was 20 minutes AFTER show time, we were all told that no will call tickets were available. Not a single person in that line got in. That was pretty discouraging, but we ended up seeing “Thank You for Smoking” at a theater just past Ground Zero. It was a very strange sight, since the only other time I had been in New York was Thanksgiving 1999. But I digress.
Fast forward three months to the second annual Traverse City Film Festival in late July, a festival that actually cares if its attendees see the advertised films. I also didn’t have to take three trains and a bus to get there, but I veer close to digression again.
The film takes place in Chicago, where our main character James (Jeff Garlin of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) lives with his elderly mother. James doesn’t meet too many women, most likely due to a lack of self confidence brought on by his larger than average size. He seems to use his mother as an excuse for his inability to meet a woman as well.
During one of his many visits to the ice cream parlor, James meets Beth (Sarah Silverman). Beth is frank, open, and shockingly to him, attracted to James. Silverman gives a bold performance here that utilizes the persona she has cultivated on her show and standup specials, and then takes it just a little bit further.
Garlin also strikes a bit of a relationship with Stella Lewis, played with undeniable charm and realism by Bonnie Hunt, who doesn’t seem to get many really good parts. In this brisk 80-minute film she doesn’t get a great deal of time to shine, but she does bring natural warmth as long as she’s on screen.
Naturally most of the film falls on Garlin’s shoulders, especially since he wrote the screenplay (from his own stage play), directed it, and stars. He has a bit of the Woody Allen everyman quality, though he doesn’t exude the hyperactivity that Allen’s characters typically do; he is much more relaxed. Garlin has an affable and easy going personality that would be difficult not to like. James is not unlike the Jeff character he plays on “Curb,” only here he doesn’t have the acerbic Larry David to put up with.
“Cheese” should please the art house audiences, but anyone else who happens to wander in wouldn’t be disappointed. This is an easy film to like, but it’s also hard not to notice the undercurrent of sadness flowing through it. I may have identified with James more than the average filmgoer, but I think “Cheese” is delectable enough for just about anybody.
The 411: Jeff Garlin makes his debut as a writer-director on the big screen and it’s a tasty treat. “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With” may be one of the more verbose film titles of the year, and it probably won’t play on very many screens. It is well worth seeking out, and I hope that it finds an audience on DVD, because it certainly deserves one.
