Two movies written and directed by Mike Birbiglia show how much more nuanced his work has become.
Don't Think Twice
Don't Think Twice is an excellent little comedy, equal parts heartfelt and cringe-y. The film follows tight-knit improv group The Commune, made up of Miles (Birbiglia), Jack (Keegan-Michael Key), Sam (Gillian Jacobs), Bill (Chris Gethard), Allison (Kate Micucci), and Lindsay (Tami Sagher).
As a couple members of The Commune end up with a shot to audition for Weekend Live (a fictionalized version of Saturday Night Live, complete with an aloof Lorne Michaels type showrunner at the helm), the other members react with equal parts support and secret bitterness.
In Birbiglia's capable hands, Don't Think Twice doesn't shy away from the more unsavory aspects of the group dynamic of this particular improv group (or improv in general) as well as the consequences ambition has on a group of friends all competing for essentially the same goal. Three of the members in particular--Miles, Sam, and Jack--come off as both incredibly sympathetic and impossibly annoying. Jack and Sam are in a relationship and they take their joking ways off the improv stage and into every aspect of their lives (including the bedroom), which is both sweet and exhausting. I mean, everyone wants a romantic partner with "a sense of humor", but can two funny people who seem unable to turn it off really be together? Their love story is at the heart of Don't Think Twice, and it's fascinating to watch as their intimacy is put through the ringer when they realize they have vastly different goals.
Birbiglia gives himself a juicy role as Miles, the 36 year old improv instructor who can't contain his jealousy as he watches his own students achieve the kind of success he dreamed of but could never quite reach. He lives in a shitty apartment that he brings his much younger female students back to for the occasional sad boning. Emotionally, he's closer to their age than to women his own age--but he finds the desire to step up his game when he reacquaints with Liz, an old high school classmate who ends up back in his life.
Miles occasionally lets his raw and ugly resentment show, which makes for some really cringe-y moments, but he never completely loses hold of the audience's sympathy. I was incredibly impressed with Birbiglia's authentic, lived in performance (probably due to the fact that he DID live it, or at least a version of it). Miles is a character you want to both slap and cuddle, often during the same scene.
Likewise, Keegan-Michael Key (of Key & Peele) is excellent at playing the showboating, gotta-be-the-funniest-guy-in-the-room Jack, who actually has a shot at true fame. Not only does he give the funniest performance in the movie, he manages, like Birbiglia's Miles, to be both sympathetic and distasteful. When he interrupts Bill as he relays sad news about an injured relative to tell the group about a big break he got, the audience I was sitting in erupted with groans. What a clueless jerk! At the same time, you can't help but admire Jack's determination and pluck, even if it makes him a bit of a narcissist.
And then there's Sam (Gillian Jacobs), who realizes that maybe the only reason she shares the same goals as Jack is because that's what's expected of her, not because she actually wants to achieve those goals. As Jack's career blasts off, Sam appears to be stuck...but is she really? Or has she already achieved happiness and contentment right where she is?
Don't Think Twice poses a lot of thoughtful questions about friendship, relationships, ambitions, and talent. It really boils down to two thesis statements: 1) people want different things in life, and that's OK and 2) sometimes you DON'T achieve your dreams and goals, and it's up to you to find contentment in what you do have. Both of these truths can be hard pills to swallow, especially if you're part of a rather codependent group like The Commune (Birbiglia portrays the improv community, like most communities, as 50% loving and supportive and 50% insular and echo chamber-y). If you work, live, and hang out with the same people all the time, it can be difficult to form your own identity and goals independent of the group. It's only when one member of the group moves forward--whether "moving forward" means getting married, switching jobs, starting a business, quitting drinking, having a baby, or moving to France--that others in the group get a clearer picture of what it is THEY want.
Don't Think Twice is ultimately a hopeful, sweet film that avoids pat answers to life's problems. While we may occasionally resent and compete with our friends, at the end of the day, they have our back.
Grade: A-
***
Sleepwalk With Me
Mike Birbiglia's first foray into directing is more directly autobiographical and less refined than Don't Think Twice. It's still really good though. Birbiglia casts himself as Matt Pandamiglio, a struggling wannabe comedian with a great girlfriend, Abby (Lauren Ambrose), and a sleep disorder that causes him not only to sleepwalk, but to sleep-drive and, in a memorable scene, sleep-jump-out-of-a-window.
According to IMDB, which I totally trust, Sleepwalk With Me is about "70% true". Birbiglia does have a sleep disorder and actually did jump out a second story window once. The parts of the film that focus on his sleep issues and his sudden success on the stand-up circuit are interesting and fun. The parts about his once good, but now not that great relationship with Abby--not so much. Matt and Abby's relationship takes the cliched (though, admittedly, realistic and common) path of "We've been together a long time, thus we should get married". Just as Sam in Don't Think Twice expresses a desire to end up on Weekend Live merely because all of her friends want that, not because SHE wants it, Matt and Abby's decision to get married reflects other people's expectations and desires more than their own. If Birbiglia has a grasp on one life lesson, it's "don't do something just because other people say you should".
Sleepwalk With Me is a pleasant, if forgettable, comedy. I wish there was a little more bite to it. It's almost *too* nice. When compared to Don't Think Twice, you can see Birbiglia's increasing ability to capture the complexities and the unpleasant and upsetting aspects of life. I don't think Birbiglia will ever be my favorite stand-up comedian, but he is undoubtedly a talented director, writer, and actor--I'm looking forward to seeing whatever he comes up with next.
Grade: B
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