This year has been a difficult one for me, as I haven’t done many mainstream film reviews, as it’s been mostly low budget or foreign films that nobody has heard of. When I had the chance to review “Don’t Think Twice, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity as I’ve heard great things about it.
The film is about comedic improve troupe who performs on a weekly basis to small crowds. Everything is well and good until one of the team makes it big and joins a late night TV show. The rest of the members begin rethink their lives and wonder if it’s all worth it to play in front of small crowds realizing that they may never make it to the big time. The film stars Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs and the film’s writer/director Mike Birbigia.
From time to time, you come across an independent film that doesn’t get the big theatrical release and catches your eye. “Don’t Think Twice” is one of those films where I was into the characters its entertaining story.
The reason why the film succeeds was its direction from writer/director Mike Birbiglia. It was very well directed. He does a very good job making sure everything keeps moving at an entertaining pace. From the way that he directs the scenes to making sure he get the technical aspects that he needs to make everything work, it’s done in a flawless way that you’re into the film and the characters. If those directing aspects aren’t there, it comes down a couple of notches. Thankfully, it’s not the case as Birbiglia’s direction was great. The other thing that I liked about his direction was the way that he handles the performances. I thought, the performances were great as everyone in the main characters gelled very well with each other as the chemistry was there. Birbiglia does a very good job in making sure the performances stand out from each other. It made me interested in the performances and the characters. Speaking of performances, I really enjoyed Keegan-Michael Key and Gillian Jacobs in this. They both made sure that their characters had personality to them in comedic and dramatic scene. Whether it was in the improve scene to the scenes that they had with each other, I was entertained and interested in those characters and everyone around them. Those performances helped anchored this film as they were both great and made the film even more entertaining.
The screenplay also written by Birbiglia was also great. One of the things that I liked about it was the fact that it focuses on the characters and the ups and downs that these characters go through. It made me interested with the film story as it didn’t feel forced which made it more interesting to watch. The other thing that this screenplay does well is it balances the humor with the dramatic aspects. By doing this, it kind of gives you a realistic feel that is the film’s charm. Birbiglia does this very well as I was into this film and its characters from start to finish.
The Blu-ray extras include a deleted scene, “The Creative” which talks about the creative team behind the film, “Don’t Think Twice: “The Art of Improv” which goes into the improve aspect of the film, “The Commune” which talks about the characters in the film. All of them are short featurette as it goes into the making of the film and each of the film’s characters. Overall, it was okay but it doesn’t go in depth into the making of this film. This was one of those releases where there should’ve been a commentary track, as I would’ve liked to have known more in detail
This is truly the best film I’ve seen this year. I suggest you find the time and see this film as it’s both entertaining and emotional. With its great performances and its excellent direction, “Don’t Think Twice” is a great film from start to finish.
Review Rating: Five Stars
Extras Rating: Two Stars
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