We live in an era where divorce is nearly as common as marriage and we are at that point where many youngish adults have lived through a divorce and have either come out fine or have emerged with, well, a few issues. Making his feature debut, director Stu Zicherman explores this interesting world of Adult Children of Divorce with his Sundance comedy titled A.C.O.D. To help depict this new generation of adults he has assembled an all-star cast comprised of Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Jane Lynch, Clark Duke and Mary Elizabeth Winstead to bring us on a hilarious and spiraling ride complete with plenty of awkward speed bumps for a feature that will be one of the surprise sleeper comedies of the year.
A.C.O.D. follows Carter, played by Adam Scott, a young, good looking and successful man who managed to turn out pretty normal after surviving the disastrous divorce (one of epic proportions) that his parents (Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara) put him through when he was a child. Now, as an Adult Child of Divorce, it is weird for him to think about marriage and he is living in a peaceful period since his parents haven’t seen each other in a while, but then his brother (Clark Duke) decides to propose to his girlfriend after four months and asks Carter to convince their parents to attend the wedding i.e. be in the same room at the same time and not cause a riot. Knowing that this is going to be an extremely difficult task, Carter reaches out to his former shrink (Jane Lynch) and soon learns that not only is she not a shrink but that he was involved in study about children who experience bad divorces and the effects it has on them. As you can imagine this opens up a new can of worms and the craziness of his childhood soon returns in ways you couldn’t even imagine.
A.C.O.D. is one of the most refreshing R-rated comedies that I’ve seen in a while. The reason is that the story is not only good but very realistic, relevant and appropriate for the time we live in. Furthermore, it’s a comedy that feels complete; its humor is not ridiculous for the sake of being ridiculous, the story takes us through the trials and tribulations of a man who seems to have it together but is simply a good actor who avoids his problems and his deeply rooted issues that takes a mindboggling shock to expose them which eventually causes tons of stress. The combination of his unpredictable parents, the scientist/shrink who wants to do a follow-up study on him, his slacker brother who feels the need to get married and his girlfriend (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) of four years who doesn’t know anything about his childhood is enough to make him implode and we get to watch as uncomfortably laughing witnesses.
Through his life, Carter has developed managing skills that allows him to avoid his parents but when things take a surprising twist he can’t fathom it. It’s his selfish inability to not let it go that ultimately causes his own life to spiral out of control. Rather than focus on what
’s important to him and keeping his eye on the ball, he’s so annoyed and frustrated that he becomes blinded by the nearly impossible idea that two people, who have hated each other for so many years, could possibly get back together and that not only scares him but turns everything he’s ever known completely upside down.
First time director and co-writer Stu Zicherman does an excellent job navigating the story and getting hilarious yet down to earth performances out of his actors. If it wasn’t for the relatable story that’s told in a hilarious and touching way I think A.C.O.D would have fell into that mediocre comedy territory where so many independent films find themselves post Sundance.
Adam Scott doesn’t come off as a leading man and I don’t think he’ll have many opportunities to be one but he was solid in his role and utilized that egotistical and sarcastic personality that we loved from Step Brothers in small doses to make sure he was able to deliver laughs just as much as his supporting cast. Speaking of supporting cast, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch and Amy Poehler knock it out of the park and the chemistry they all have, along with the rest of the cast, is dynamite.
A.C.O.D. is one of those movies where you sit down expecting a generic comedy where you’ll laugh and forget about it but ends up being whole hearted and delivering much more on the story side than originally anticipated. It also has the bonus of having an incredible cast full of faces you recognize but may not necessarily know the names of along with a few other bonuses. If you have a chance to see this movie don’t skip out, this is going to be that movie that pleasantly surprises you.
Rating: One of the best indie comedies of the year, if the story doesn’t win you over the hilarious cast will (7/10)
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