Netflix Monday: David Cross' 'Hits'

Next to Patton Oswalt, David Cross is a comedian I’ve been dying to see jump behind the camera. With his love and intelligence for cinema on record, his appreciation for the art of film is as deep as it is for comedy, and — had the comedy life not beckoned him — he may have found a worthwhile career studying cinema. He not only knows what he’s talking about, but can do with a sharply wielded tongue and a ferocious fearlessness to speak his mind.

So with eager hopes did I anticipate Hits, Cross’ feature directorial debut slated to make fun of today’s ever-needy youth society. Reviews from Sundance were mixed at best, but I knew the newbie filmmaker, in his heart-of-hearts, is both a natural storyteller and extremely intelligent writer. This had to be on display, if just a little, I thought.

Turns out, I was right and wrong. Poking fun at everything from modern-day hipsters to our co-dependence on artificial appreciation to the vapidness of teenage culture, Cross carries more than a couple crosses to bear, no pun intended. That’s why it’s so discerning that his evidential film so often seems adrift. For all the satire on display, Hits is, in a word, formless. There’s no real cohesive moral or hard-knuckled truth to the tale, and everything Cross says here has already been stated long before. I mean, one needs only to read YouTube and Instagram comments, or simply visit Twitter, to see how deprived our tech-suave culture is today.

With his intentions to ridicule an entitled generation filled with people that believe fame to be entrusted, rather than earned as a by-product of hard work and trained skills, Hits feels too content to only live up to its modest expectations. Its sourpuss attitude is something designed to become a fun dark comedy similar perhaps to Bobcat Goldthwait’s equally messy but more genuinely entertaining God Bless America (also currently on Netflix). But in its oddly monotonously lingering and wallowing, Cross desires only to complain about the stupidity around him, all without adding anything new to the conversation or what he’s said on stage before.

Even though Cross, clearly, has a lot to say, Hits remains as detached as its cell-phone wielding youth characters. It lacks the edge, essentially, that made the director the comedian he is today. Therefore, this is a sadly milquetoast affair, but admittedly one with some solid laughs now-and-then. The screenplay, also by Cross, carries in the filmmaker’s sketch comedy history. Bouncing between characters and their individual bits, the comedy is certainly more joke focused than story oriented. But to the writer’s credit, his attention to character helps carry the narrative through.

Focusing on the town of Liberty and its citizens —including Dave (Matt Ross), an unintentional Internet sensation thanks for his passionate city hall meetings each week, his daughter Katelyn (Meredith Hagner), with a stern goal to become a rich and famous singer and to get out of her hometown, and Cory (Jake Cherry), a wannabe white-boy rapper — as well as group of hipsters there solely to make the town’s drama sensationalized, Donovan (James Adomian), Babatunde (Wyatt Cenac) and Larson (Derek Waters), Cross at least follows the characters astutely. But because he believes them to be more caricatures than humans, it’s hard to get invested in their efforts, especially since even their creator could care less about them. This would be fine if it were funnier, but because Hits comes across so soggy and limp-wristed, only a handful of moments get their intended chuckles. The rest are sluggish and awkwardly handled.

Cross is a decent-enough actors director, getting fine performances from Hagner, Ross and also Amy Carlson, who plays Liberty’s mayor Christina Casserta, but where his inexperience is notable is in his staging. Shooting many scenes with extended long angles with occasional mediums shots through in, Cross often lets the scenes play out like theater. But the actors never look certain as to where to stand or what to do physically, and this really shows throughout. Even well trained talents like Amy Sedaris and David Koechner can’t really hide their confusions.

Whether by coincidence or intentionally, Hits official release came out on YouTube’s tenth birthday: February 13. There’s quite a bit to gleam from how society’s changed and transformed itself since this website took over water cooler discussions across the globe. Sadly, though, Cross doesn’t really have enough momentum here to make his movie an enthralling hour-and-a-half comedy. It too often feels half-thought out, especially with some unresolved character arcs and its wondering cast of characters, and the script on displays feels like its another three or so rewrites away from a solid feature. It also doesn't quite have the stigma to excel in the consensus thanks to its flimsy execution.

Should he continue to push himself as a filmmaker, I wish Cross only the best. He doesn’t quite possess a well-tuned focus or interesting style, but he does display a nuanced attention to character. He also knows the conventions of storytelling far better than many of his comedian peers and, unless your Mel Brooks, Woody Allen or Louis C.K., the transition between stand-up to filmmaking is rarely easy. And even the latter has to live with Pootie Tang on his resume. Cross, however, makes the crossover more smoothly than most, though he still has some ways to go before he can really holster his talents behind the camera. For his first movie, disappointingly, is more miss than hit.

Image courtesy of IMDb