Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ezra’ on Paramount+, in Which Bobby Cannavale Leads a Poignant Dramedy That Gets Lost on a Road Trip

By John Serba

The ever-lovin’ Bobby Cannavale enjoys a uncommon lead domiciled successful Ezra (now streaming connected Paramount+), playing a struggling stand-up comic pinch a surgery marriage, autistic son, daddy issues and anger issues successful a play pinch nan occasional comedic flourish. Cannavale is 1 of those underappreciated domiciled players who tin kinda do it each (the strongest illustration of this? The Station Agent), truthful it’s bully to spot him fixed a meaty and analyzable characteristic to play. Whether nan remainder of nan movie – directed by Tony Goldwyn, who besides has a supporting domiciled – tin meet Cannavale’s level of earnest committedness is nan question, though.

EZRA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Max Brandel (Cannavale) utilized to constitute jokes for different people, but now he does it for himself. He’s nan type of standup comic who sits connected a stool pinch a solid of whiskey – neat – and gets confessional astir his father, his boy and his fatherhood. One nighttime aft a show, a female from nan assemblage buys him a portion and he takes her location and arsenic soon arsenic they’re done one-night-standing, he sits connected nan separator of nan furniture sobbing. So she bolts, and connected nan measurement out, runs into Max’s dad, Stan (Robert De Niro), who owns this home, and is caller from his occupation arsenic a doorman astatine a high-rise flat building. “He cried, didn’t he?” Stan quips.

So what’s up pinch Max? Is it nan truth that he gave up a decent surviving – aliases mislaid it owed to his anger issues, which mightiness beryllium much meticulous – to do his ain drama point and now has to unrecorded pinch his dad? Or that his matrimony to Jenna (Rose Byrne) is arsenic dormant arsenic past night’s dinner? Or that his and Jenna’s boy Ezra (William Fitzgerald) is autistic and connected nan verge of expulsion from nationalist schoolhouse owed to his behavior? Well, it’s each of nan above. And astir of it pertains to Ezra, because his mother and teachers and advisers and doctors each want nan boy to return medicine and be a special-needs school, and this is each worldly that Max doesn’t want. Why? Well, Max believes nan boy will beryllium champion served via assimilation into nan “real” world, and worries that he’ll turn up isolated. Legit concerns, for sure, but his reasoning seems flawed and outdated.

Max has his ain issues. He’s stubborn and he’s rash and impulsive and makes bad decisions, and a batch of that seems to beryllium a merchandise of his upbringing. His mother left, and Stan is nan type of old-school toughster whose proposal astir dealing pinch anger is to “bury it.” That accuracy doesn’t look to beryllium working: Max gets slapped pinch a restraining bid aft he lashes retired astatine Ezra’s doctor. Max is 1 of those guys whose decisionmaking is, to put it bluntly, poor. And successful an workout successful Making Everything Worse, Max sneaks into Jenna’s location and takes Ezra down nan occurrence flight and drops him successful nan backseat of Stan’s vintage Cadillac convertible for a roadworthy trip. Max landed a standup gig connected Jimmy Kimmel Live, spot (his supplier is played successful a cameo by Whoopi Goldberg), and he has to get location by Friday aliases whatever. There’s thing that’ll lick Movie Problems much than a roadworthy travel successful a vintage convertible, right? Of course, what he’s doing is technically kidnapping. So there’s that. 

PHOTO: Paramount+

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Ezra is Rain Man crossed pinch nan past movie successful which De Niro played nan grumpy begetter of a comedian, About My Father.

Performance Worth Watching: Cannavale tin negociate tricky dramedy tones arsenic good arsenic anyone successful nan biz. We’d emotion to spot him successful much weighty roles, please. 

Memorable Dialogue: Rainn Wilson plays an aged pal of Max’s, a doof who utilized to beryllium a standup, and bursts pinch pridefulness upon proceeding astir Max’s Kimmel gig: “Best I did was get bumped from Arsenio. Worst nighttime of my life. Hasselhoff conception ran long.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Frustratingly, Ezra could beryllium a thoughtful communicative astir nan analyzable narration betwixt fathers and sons who are trying to beryllium themselves and alteration themselves and understand each different better, but nan crippled keeps getting successful nan way. Remove nan contrivances and distractions inherent successful a stereotypical Hollywood roadworthy travel – sideplotty detours via characters played by Wilson and Vera Farmiga, nan inevitable segment wherever Ezra and Max spot their ain amber-alert study connected a coffeeshop TV, Stan and Jenna hopping successful nan car to pursuit them to nan Midwest – and you mightiness person a good, coagulated characteristic study alternatively of this well-meaning, but annoying postulation of cliches. 

Fitzgerald is fantabulous successful a domiciled that deals pinch Ezra’s issues arsenic crippled hurdles that request to beryllium leapt — he loathes being physically touched, and he was shut up for years but now speaks heavy successful movie quotes — seems a small excessively overmuch for illustration a instrumentality for exploring nan hows and whys of Max’s galore characteristic flaws. The young character has autism, and peripheral discussions of Ezra inevitably veer toward nan request for nan accumulation to sensitively and accurately represent his character. Consider that successful, but nan penning yet fails these characters. The screenplay, by Tony Spiridakis, drops successful nan accusation that possibly Max, too, is connected nan spectrum and undiagnosed, a compelling improvement that nan movie concisely implies past ignores. 

It besides seems to disregard nan fatal logical flaw that ne'er occurs to Max, namely, that his big-break Kimmel quality is ne'er going to happen, because it’s a no-brainer stake that he’ll beryllium arrested earlier it happens. Perhaps he realizes this but ne'er says it retired loud; possibly it’s little astir nan destination than what happens connected nan journey, whether it’s cardinal bonding clip pinch his boy aliases immoderate clip distant from his fraught regular life, to deliberation astir what’s champion for himself and for Ezra. None of this is made clear successful a movie that ne'er seems to cognize what it wants to accomplish. It warms our hearts a small bit, sure, but its insights are muddled and yet banal.

Our Call: Part of maine wants ye olde road-trip crippled to meet a Thelma and Louise fate. Extract it from Ezra and you’d apt person a overmuch smarter movie pinch much room to grow upon Cannavale and Fitzgerald’s inspired performances. SKIP IT.

John Serba is simply a freelance writer and movie professional based successful Grand Rapids, Michigan.