The Least Funniest Man

A laughable romp exploring the folly of comeuppance. Audiences will delight at the inclusion of familiar faces and hilarious gags! A must-see for football and comedy enthusiasts alike, bound to capture hearts this festival season. Five stars

After getting absolutely roasted at a comedy club, Hamish Boyle gives one of the best performances of this year's competition as a wannabe funny guy who will stop at nothing to get other people chortling. Stalking? Kidnapping? Who's keeping score?!

Genuinely well deserved nomination for best sound at the Auckland final. When I rewatched the film just now I was amazed at how crisp and clean every line of dialogue was, as well as impressive use of audio space to get inside the headspace of our protagonist. The club felt like a void with the walls surrounding the humiliated Hamish as others reveled in his roasting by the comedian on stage, whilst indoor and outdoor spaces were audibly captured as just the right level.

Really cleanly shot as well with professional framing, clean and creative lighting and a crisp edit.

For me I think it probably needed to "go there" just a bit more, as I sympathised with the lead and always like seeing a bully get their comeupppance. What I mean by that was that the revenge could have been slightly more satisfactory. Does he get revealed some actually great jokes? Maybe an injury to Paul plays off as funny? Just spitballing of course.
It actually almost felt like to do that you needed more than 5 minutes to tell the perfect story here. Was their history between the characters played by Hamish and Paul? Could being funny or not have serious ramifications for Hamish's personal or career prospects? I liked the open-endedness of the film but a couple of beats to flesh out proceedings may have elevated it further.

I get the subversion though and the revenge was a central element of the story. Strong performances, technically great, but leaning into the competition elements as plot devices might have been the last thing it needed to go from good to great. I really enjoyed it personally though!