Ever since starring in Tiny Furniture, Alex Karpovsky has been one of the newest voices in film that everyone has been paying attention to. He was one of the stars of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival as he had two films in the festival — the enjoyable comedy Supporting Characters and the chilling drama Rubberneck (which he also wrote and directed). Tribeca Films clearly wants to be in the Alex Karpovsky business, as the company has recently released both of those films on VOD and has also released Red Flag, a road comedy that Karpovsky also wrote and directed. Collectively, the three films demonstrate the astounding versatility of Kaprovsky as an actor and filmmaker. Though Red Flag is very funny, I think one has to be familiar with Karpovsky’s other work before watching it.
That’s because in Red Flag Karpovsky plays a fictionalized version of himself as he goes on a screening tour to promote his 2008 film Woodpecker. However, right before the tour starts his lengthy relationship with his girlfriend, Rachel (Caroline White) ends because of Alex’s issues with commitment. Nevertheless, Alex seems to be afraid to go on the tour alone and calls numerous friends to come with him, though none are able. While flying solo he encounters River (Jennifer Prediger), an adorable girl who admires Alex’s work. Naturally, this builds to the most awkward make-out scene I’ve ever seen in a movie that builds to… well, I don’t want to ruin it, but things certainly get even more awkward when Alex’s friend Henry (Onur Turkel) decides to join him on tour and begins to fall for River.
Red Flag touches on the same “marriage is the end” theme that Mike Birbiglia explores in Sleepwalk with Me (Karpovsky had a small role in that movie). While the neurotic Alex (the character) doesn’t want to commit to marrying Rachel, he also has an obvious fear of being alone. That fear isn’t unfounded, because when he’s alone Alex usually ends up hurting himself by kicking or punching something or making other poor decisions. This material is a great set-up for a comedy, as seen in Sleepwalk with Me, especially since the crowd at Alex’s tour stops get depressingly smaller as the tour goes on (a very Spinal Tap-ish touch) adding to his troubled mindset.
Problem is, Karpovsky, though a great actor (as proven in Rubberneck) and very likable, is not a particularly funny actor. He has the neurotic part down, but in a lot of ways he’s more selfish than funny. On the other hand, Turkel can. Turkel’s character is similar to one of those good-natured characters that Zach Galifianakis usually plays, except Turkel’s Henry is naive rather than childishly stupid. Similarly, Prediger alternates between cute and bratty to great results, and Henry and River make a great and very funny team throughout the second half of the film. I’d love to see more of them even if they aren’t teamed in a movie again.
So here we have a movie where the most interesting characters are supporting characters to Alex’s story instead of equal partners. And as wonderful as Karpovsky is, I was really far less interested in his selfish character than his much more fun co-stars. That means Karpovsky still wrote a great script, but it’s like if John Hughes decided to devote more screentime to the crabby Steve Martin at the expense of the scenes of the loveable John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Of course, Karpovsky still makes great films at a rapid rate and he will continue to do so in the future. I see Red Flag as an indication that he’s better suited for drama as a director, because as funny as Red Flag is it’s only funny because of the awkward underlying drama. I imagine what the dramatic Karpovsky could have done with that!
Movie Rating: Karpovsky’s comedy could use a little work, but there’s plenty to laugh about here (6/10).
Red Flag is now available on VOD and will open in New York at Lincoln Center on February 22.
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