Idiots

Davis (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), Sheridan (Mason Thames) and Mark (Dave Franco) get into trouble in Idiots (Distributed by Independent Film Company)

Two screwups get in way over their heads when a seemingly simple job, transporting a rich kid to rehab, gets totally out of hand. The dark comedy Idiots does take this premise to seedy, violent places, yet it doesn’t go deep enough, or get stupid enough, to be consistently funny. These guys aren’t reckless, mean or deserving of the bad things they encounter. One of them makes poor choices out of desperation, the other out of a combination of laziness and boredom. The third member of their trio, a cruel, spoiled teenager, is an annoying plot device with no clear personality of his own. His backstory doesn’t really make sense in the context of the plot. There are laughs here, but they are short and infrequent.

Davis has just been fired by his pastor for taking kids to an inappropriate movie. Mark got fired for getting high and slacking off at a call center. With no other choice, they each accept a job transporting minors to rehabilitation facilities. The two strangers dislike each other immediately. It only gets worse when their charge turns out to be far more cunning than he seems.

Idiots (94 minutes, plus a mid-credit scene) does get some laughs, however, they mainly come from the performers leaning into the quirkiness of their weird roles. O’Shea Jackson Jr., as Davis, and Dave Franco, as Mark, don’t have much chemistry, but that sort of works. They are supposed to be antagonistic. Even when they start working together, it is out of need, not friendship. They are funny actors and get more mileage out of the dialogue than this material really deserves. Davis is earnest, but sloppy. Mark is careless and extremely irresponsible. They never learn or grow, which is certainly consistent with the movie’s tone.

The most important character from a plot standpoint is Sheridan, the kid they are being paid to drive. He is a brat who has basically been abandoned by his family due to his sociopathic behavior. He is a jerk who messes with people for his own amusement and has become a cult celebrity on social media. Somehow, our oblivious heroes have never heard of him, despite the fact that Mark seems to be in his target audience. Sheridan is played by Mason Thames with a smirking arrogance. There is no attempt to explain him or give him any depth. He is neither funny nor interesting and weighs the movie down by being meaner than he needs to be, without any real comeuppance.

The character I found the most amusing pops up a little more than halfway through, a result of one of Sheridan’s schemes to escape. They end up confronted by a crew of his fans, led by a completely underutilized Peter Dinklage. His sidekick is a wannabe gangster rapper who is obsessed with Sheridan and desperately desires his approval. He has named himself Pricka Bush da Werewolf and goes out of his way to look tough and intimidating. Nicholas Braun plays him as an overgrown child who doesn’t quite seem to understand that his actions have consequences. It is a legitimately interesting juxtaposition with Sheridan’s entitlement. I am probably reading more into it than was intended. Still, it is the movie’s funniest concept.

Otherwise, Idiots is only about ¾ as nasty and stupid as it needed to be. The two leads are good, the plot is fittingly twisty and the world they inhabit is dark and unfriendly. Unfortunately, it has a big hole at its center and isn’t funny enough to pull itself out of it. The positives were enough to prevent me from entirely losing interest, though not by much. This is forgettable and pointless.

2½ out of 5

Cast:

O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Davis

Dave Franco as Mark

Mason Thames as Sheridan

Kiernan Shipka as Irina Anastas

Lynn Wanlass as Baba

Peter Dinklage as Koko

Nicholas Braun as Pricka Bush da Werewolf

Najah Bradley as Crystal

Written/Directed by Macon Blair