Listen Up Philip

Listen Up Philip

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Alex Ross Perry
Produced by
  • Joshua Blum
  • Toby Halbrooks
  • James M. Johnston
  • David Lowery
  • Katie Stern
Written by Alex Ross Perry
Starring
Narrated by Eric Bogosian
Music by Keegan DeWitt
Cinematography Sean Price Williams
Edited by Robert Greene
Production
companies
  • Faliro House Productions
  • Sailor Bear Productions
  • Washington Square Films
Distributed by Tribeca Film
Release dates
  • January 20, 2014 (2014-01-20) (Sundance)
  • October 17, 2014 (2014-10-17) (United States)
Running time
 109 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Box office $200,126[2]

Listen Up Philip is a 2014 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Alex Ross Perry.[3][4] The film had its world premiere at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014.[5][6]

Plot

Philip (Jason Schwartzman) is an acclaimed but abrasive young writer waiting for the publication of his second novel. He feels bored of his daily life and his shaky relationship with photographer girlfriend Ashley (Elisabeth Moss). In all of this chaos, his idol, veteran novelist Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce), offers him accommodation at his summer home, an isolated place where he might find peace.

Cast

Reception

Listen Up Philip received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film 84% based on 101 critics and an audience rating of 55%.[7] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, it has an average score of 76 from 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8]

Scott Foundas of Variety, in his review said that "Jason Schwartzman shines as a self-absorbed writer who doesn't quite learn the error of his ways in Alex Ross Perry's sharp and darkly funny third feature."[9] Todd McCarthy in his review for The Hollywood Reporter praised the film by saying that "[An] indisputably talented work for its risk-taking, dark humor and barbed portraiture of creative individuals."[10] Richard Brody of The New Yorker, praised the film by saying that "I can't think of a recent movie that stages with as much joy and wonder the sense of living a life that becomes, directly or obliquely, in action or in idea, the stuff of art."[11] Sam Fragoso in his review for RogerEbert.com said that "Alex Ross Perry's third feature film is his most narratively satisfying and intellectually demanding one, demonstrating a maturation in both style and substance."[12] Rodrigo Perez of Indiewire, graded the film A- and said that "A deeply misanthropic portrait of narcissism, the brittle nature of artistic talent and the struggles of living in New York City, this toxic comedy pulls very few punches when it needs to get really nasty."[13]

The A.V. Club's Ignatiy Vishnevetsky called it "a howlingly funny black comedy with really sharp teeth," going on to say: "Writing pithy wisecracks is easy. What Perry does is write banter that reveals his character’s insecurities and weaknesses; [...] There’s a level of criticism at play in the film, which immediately sets it apart from similarly set New York art-world horror stories, but it doesn’t cancel out the writer-director’s clear empathy for his characters, who never quite manage to empathize with each other. This sort of mature perspective is a rare thing, and Listen Up Philip establishes Perry as a major talent."[14]

References

External links

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