Funny Pages review: A quirky, cranky Ghost World for comics fans

Because comic books currently inspire many of the most globally popular movies and TV shows, it’s easy to forget that the original medium — individual comics issues, most commonly found in specialty shops — remains a relatively niche interest. That’s especially true for titles outside of the Marvel/DC axis of superheroes, and even more so for cartoonists whose work is more inspired by R. Crumb or Carl Barks than Stan Lee or Jack Kirby.

Owen Kline’s memorable, sometimes hilarious movie Funny Pages understands this to such a degree that it isn’t immediately obvious that the movie is set in the immediate present. Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) is a New Jersey teenager obsessed with becoming a professional comics creator, and the comics shop where he hangs out and works part time isn’t a slick monument to the latest high-end superhero collectibles and attractively bound graphic novels. It’s dingy, packed with haphazardly stored back issues, and populated by assorted (and often malcontented) fans, aspiring artists, and weirdos. Andy Milonakis, a former MTV comedian plays one of the characters.

Robert’s high school art teacher and mentor is such an underground-comix aficionado that he looks as if he crawled straight out of a sketchbook and into the flesh. Robert is disillusioned by his suburban life and begins to look for a new direction. Robert leaves his home and shares an apartment in the basement with two men. He then gets a job as a notetaker for a local public defender. That’s how he meets Wallace (Our Flag Means Death Matthew Maher (a star), is a apparently unbalanced crank charged in case where he turned out at local pharmacy.

Robert is fascinated by Wallace. As with many characters in the film, Wallace looks almost like a cartoon character. He reminds me of someone out of Daniel Clowes’ comics. More surprising, Wallace used to work in comics; he was a color separator for Image back in the company’s high-flying superhero ’90s. Robert is drawn to Wallace because he seeks authenticity, and paradoxically, some industry connections. Befriending him should be easy — Wallace needs money, rides, and, it seems, emotional support. However, he makes it clear that things don’t always go according to plan.

Owen Kline, writer-director has good reasons to be interested in developing an alternative artistic sensibility and trying to maintain upper-class respectability. He’s the son of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates, and he played the younger brother in Noah Baumbach’s 2005 movie The Squid- and the Whale. As the nepotism cycle continues, Kline’s first feature is now being distributed by A24. But to whatever extent Kline has leveraged his industry connections, he’s used them to create something both grabby and grubby, shooting on grainy 16mm and giving juicy roles to actors who don’t look like overly polished movie stars.

Photo: A24

Kline has mentioned the influence of indie/mumblecore movies such as FrownlandRonald Bronstein (who went on to write movies alongside the Safdie brothers)Uncut Gems) — who in turn produced Funny Pages. There are many aspects to Funny Pages These images recall comic horrors by Safdie, such as Uncut GemsOder It’s a good timeThis is especially true when the film reaches its conclusion. Sometimes the chaotic, hand-shot chaos can feel rushed and unnatural. There are also frequent bursts in violence that seem more appropriate for Safdie’s crime-driven Safdie films.

However, comics-tomovie fans may be interested in this article. Funny Pages As close as possible to Ghost WorldThis was the Daniel Clowes version. It also featured an eccentric character, who is fascinated by what’s going on around her. (Clowes isn’t name-checked in Funny Pages; the characters are so richly imagined that it’s easy to extrapolate that Robert, a big fan of Peter Bagge, might find Clowes’ work too respectable or intellectualized in comparison to his heroes.)

Robert doesn’t have quite the same lost teenage ache as Enid in Ghost World. He’s more a kid in over his head than a young person disturbed by encroaching consumerist adulthood. It’s the fractiousness of Robert’s not-exactly-friendship with Wallace that has some of the unsparing, darkly funny energy generated between Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi in Ghost WorldIt all comes down to the older person finding a half-affectionate/half-cruel drawing done by the younger one (though with no sexual tension).

Photo: A24

And like Buscemi in Ghost WorldMatthew Maher has been a character actor for many years, so he is able to deliver a better performance when he plays larger roles. He’s obviously well-liked by a variety of filmmakers, having done multiple movies each for Ben Affleck, Kevin Smith, Noah Baumbach, and the duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (including a bit part in Captain MarvelAs Skrull Scientist Officer Norex. There’s a peculiar thrill in realizing he gets to be a lead this time out. Maher’s piercing eyes recall a gentler version of Marty Feldman, and he gives Wallace a squirrely, nervous energy made funnier by his frustrated outbursts. The best of these expose how Robert’s esoteric love of old-timey talking-animal strips and transgressive explicitness are not especially compatible with Wallace’s tastes. Maher’s amazing ability to render Wallace both plausible and absurd in a single scene is remarkable.

Kline’s movie works best when it blurs the lines between the people of a nerdy subculture and the style of their obsessions. Kline seems to delight in coming up with too-perfect subjects for Robert’s sensibility, like the strange, sweaty roommates in the overheated basement dwelling he briefly calls home. When the movie attempts to give Robert more of a coming-of-age reckoning, it feels like maybe it’s skipped a step or two, ending on a contemplative note that doesn’t feel completely earned. It’s a pitfall of the otherwise admirable 86-minute running time. In a culture where superhero satire is often overproduced and obvious, Funny Pages This is a good reminder that comics for many are an obsessive, beautiful dead end.

Funny Pages opens in Theaters and On Demand on Friday August 26, 2012.