SxSW Film Preview: Crying With Laughter

One of the great things about film festivals is the chance to attend foreign films you’d never otherwise get the chance to see. Even if one is a pretentiously incoherent meditation on the human existence (or whatever), you walk out feeling good, knowing that you just saw something other lesser film buffs probably have never heard of—cause you’re, you know, “artsy.” The down side, of course: all that damn reading you have to do. Subtitles are like homework for your brain. Well we’ve got a solution for you: Crying With Laughter is an excellent foreign film…but it’s from Scotland! (Thank us later.)

This gritty tale of up and coming stand-up comedian Joey Frisk and the unfortunate events that might just screw up his Big Break takes you into Joey’s life on the comedy circuit. He maintains a careful balance between his career and his relationship with his ex-wife and his 6-year-old daughter, Amy, whom he adores. But when he bumps into an old friend from many years ago, hidden secrets start to emerge and things start to go wrong, putting his career, and possibly Amy’s life, in jeopardy.

Stephen McCole plays Joey, the seemingly fearless comic whose autobiographical routines provide the narrative, and his engaging presence makes it easy to imagine his popularity; when he recounts the horrible things that have happened, you can’t help but laugh yourself—but the humor is just his job, and a look into his eyes reveal that he doesn’t find any of it funny at all. Writer and director Justin Molotnikov de-glamorizes the world of comedy, making it feel real and relatable, like a regular job—a pretty damn cool regular job, but still, something within a normal person’s grasp. This relatability allows us to take Joey’s journey with him, building the suspense as he gets further and further in over his head. And did we mention, it’s a foreign film…in English!

Well, sorta. Some might have a hard time catching every word of the reasonably quick dialog at first, as the Scottish accent is one of the thickest. But by the end, you’ll have completely adjusted your brain and have no issues. It’s like a training session for your ears! And in the meantime, you’ll have seen a good movie that’s a pleasure to watch.

Crying With Laughter plays Sunday, March 14 at 9:30 PM at the Alamo Ritz 2. It’s also screening Tuesday, March 16 at 11:30 AM at Alamo Ritz 2 Wednesday, March 17 at 4:30 PM at the Alamo Lamar 2. For the full schedule, see my.SXSW or B-Side.