Movie Review: Hot Air (2018)

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As a self-described "deliverer of hard truths" who knows full well that it's not love but anger that keeps him on the air everyday, alt-right shock jock radio host Lionel Macomb (Steve Coogan) implores his listeners to bring him their "rage."

Ranting about personal responsibility while simultaneously blaming the other (liberals, immigrants, etc.), Lionel is challenged to practice what he preaches by his sixteen-year-old niece Tess (Taylor Russell) who tracks him down when her mother lands in rehab and she needs a place to stay. Calling him a hypocrite when his first instinct is to kick her out of his posh New York apartment because that would mean relying on a governmental program — child services — to pick up the slack, after the brainy Tess threatens to send out a tweet arguing that what her uncle says and does are two very different things, Lionel gives in.

Impressed by both the girl's moxie as well as her aptitude for mental chess as the two relatives test each other's boundaries, Lionel rebounds back from a predictably rocky beginning by bringing his newfound niece to work with him at the radio station. Hoping to use any issues that the liberal minded, open-hearted Tess cares about as fodder for his daily bile, after he ambushes her on the air for a soundbite, she calls him out on his unwillingness to engage in any real debate since he's armed with sound effects, a production team, and the mute button.

A welcome opportunity to satirize the role that rancorous shows like Lionel's play in further dividing the populace as the new breed of infotainment that — neither informative or entertaining — runs on anger, Hot Air might crib a scene straight out of Network, but Lionel's venom goes largely unchecked from start to finish. Rather than zero in on any one argument (maddeningly, even when it ties right into the overall plot), Hot Air leaves politics behind to concern itself with the architect behind the angry airwaves instead.

Unsure whether to focus on Lionel's personal or professional awakening, the script written by first time screenwriter Will Reichel unsuccessfully tries to combine the two arcs and becomes a big mute button in the process. Unwilling to fully explore just who the unlikable character really is in both spheres of his life, whenever Hot Air stars to veer over the line of acceptability to show us Lionel cheating on his lovely publicist girlfriend or bullying a caller who turns out to be a child or a veteran, the film overcorrects. Pulling us back from the edge, Air tries to paint our politically incorrect lead in a still politically correct light when it could've benefited from presenting him to the viewer, warts and all. And although it hints at more depth as the walls that Lionel hides behind start to crumble when Tess' arrival forces him to come face-to-face with his past, Reichel's script routinely comes up short.

By now a veritable pro at evoking empathy from viewers regardless of how unsavory his characters are — not to mention uniquely qualified to play a larger than life radio host, thanks to his turns in Alan Partridge and 24 Hour Party People — Coogan takes to this role like a flag pin to Lionel's suit jacket. In fact he's so good here that he nearly fools you into thinking the film is more cohesive than it is from start to finish. Yet, featuring fine support from Neve Campbell and Skylar Astin, Hot Air is less a one man show for the always compelling Coogan than a capable two-hander between himself and talented up and comer Russell, who manages to not only hold her own with her costars but also pull focus as the one character we remain wholeheartedly invested in throughout.

Though augmented by its performances, the otherwise ambitious Air is in desperate need of a rewrite, which could've netted a slightly bigger budget for a film where far too many scenes feel like they're missing, rushed, or unfinished. And while The Wedding Singer director Frank Coraci — reteaming here with his Around the World in 80 Days star Coogan — knows how to make an affable movie and Russell and Coogan share some charming scenes, Air's lightness never feels earned. Pushing us in a few different directions, while the last thing we want is to bring Lionel our rage, Hot Air would've worked so much better if it had followed Lionel's lead and delivered to audiences some hard truths about American politics as well as the man behind the microphone who spends his days stoking the fires of hate.

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I Really Hate My Job

Director: Oliver Parker

Following a voice over narration which drowns out the visually atmospheric introduction of London’s hustle and bustle before the action is transferred to the claustrophobic setting of Stella Bar in Soho, author Alice (Shirley Henderson) receives a letter from her publisher informing the scribe that her latest manuscript has been rejected as both “unmarketable” and “mind-numbing.” Shortly thereafter, one begins to feel exactly the same way about writer Jennifer Higgie’s unfocused, rambling, and over-the-top screenplay which, just like Alice’s overly intellectualized novel, seems to be in dire need of revision.

Director Oliver Parker has proven in the past that he has a penchant for plays with the inventive adaptation of An Ideal Husband and the mediocre yet watchable versions of Othello (saved by Kenneth Branagh) and The Importance of Being Earnest. He seems to be up to his old theatrical tricks once again when tackling Higgie’s text, which although it tries to pass itself off as a film, seems like it would have been better suited to an avant-garde or experimental college feminist theatre troupe production rather than the world of independent film. Saddled with an unimaginative and narrow title that fails to highlight the film’s ensemble nature, Parker relies heavily on his talented cast to disguise the many shortcomings as we spend a chaotic, irritating, and disaster ridden evening among five female restaurant employees who find themselves in charge of the entire bar after they’re unexpectedly disappointed by two other male employees off-screen.

While task-master Madonna (Anna Maxwell Martin)-- a well-intentioned but largely ineffective manager tries to promote working as a team and trying to cover up her soon to be broken heart, affable Henderson’s Alice suffers burns and catastrophe slaving away in the kitchen alongside a maniacal dishwashing assistant named Rita (Oana Pellea) who smokes like a chimney and spouts communist revolutionary theories with zero prompting. Rounding out the group is the film’s saving grace in the form of the sweet but admittedly dim German art student Suzie (Alexandra Maria Lara) whose innocent naiveté provides an entirely welcome counterpoint to Neve Campbell’s brash, debt-ridden struggling actress Abbie who comes to work on her thirtieth birthday and proceeds to have a breakdown over the course of the ninety minute film.

Unsuccessfully trying to cram far too many offbeat (and 99% unlikable) characters into the chaotic production does little to endear Parker’s film to audiences, despite a nice cameo in the end by actor Danny Huston who seems to have both waltzed in from and onto an entirely different production altogether. While every once in awhile an actress delivers a killer line you know you’ll remember long after you hit eject, you can’t help wondering how much better it would’ve been if-- much like Alice’s manuscript-- they’d streamlined it when it was still in the writing stage by trimming the fat, combining personalities or removing some of the unruly characters altogether.