Mark Reviews Movies: IZZY GETS THE F--- ACROSS TOWN

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 21, 2018

It doesn't take much to get the protagonist of Izzy Gets the F--- Across Town into a state of almost feral desperation. The story begins with her in a strange bed, lying next to a snoring stranger. Quietly gathering her clothes, she puts on what she was wearing the night before. It's a caterer's uniform, covered in red stains. Later on, when asked if the stains are wine or blood, she offers, "Both?"

The specifics of what actually happened the night before the cross-city quest, which makes up the majority of this story, are left unspoken. The most we learn is that Izzy (Mackenzie Davis) stood up for a co-worker against a much-hated boss. We assume wine was thrown and maybe even a few punches, too, but the point is that Izzy has a temper, is willing to do some extreme and socially frowned-upon things, and possesses a desire to stick up for those who are wronged. In Izzy's mind, we come to learn, there might be no person on this planet who has been wronged more than herself.

A lot about this story and this character exists in the vacuum of this particular day, when Izzy learns that her ex-boyfriend has become engaged to a woman who used to be her best friend. The plot, as one can determine from the title (which keeps the profanity intact), is about Izzy trying to get from one part of Los Angeles to another—a trial, even if Izzy had a car, which she doesn't. The deadline is before the ex-boyfriend/ex-friend's engagement party ends that night. Her plan is show up uninvited and unannounced, make the big announcement to her ex that she still loves him, and hope that he'll invite her back into his life to continue the romantic relationship that ended.

Everything before this day is vague, because Izzy has something of a one-track mind. Making his feature debut, writer/director Christian Papierniak only gives us what we need to know about the character, and here, that's her need to get across the city as quickly as possible, in order to try to reclaim a relationship that obviously had some problems. The rest of what we learn is her attitude—desperate, more than a bit angry, convinced beyond all doubt that her quest for love has been destined by forces of fate.

The movie itself opens with a dream sequence, featuring Izzy and a mysterious woman (played by Dolly Wells) in a field. Her future quest comes to her in this dream, and after talking to and getting a ride home from the stranger (played by Keith Stanfield), Izzy checks her social media account to discover that Roger (Alex Russell), the ex, is engaged to be married. This cannot stand.

The rest of the movie follows Izzy, nursing a bad hangover, as she walks, hitches a car ride, pedals a bike, and rides a kid's scooter toward the party. Along the way, she encounters a bunch of friends, both old and new, who offer advice, criticism, and the littlest of help in her journey.

Through her adventures, we mostly learn that Izzy's life is a mess. She has been sleeping on the couch at her married and pregnant friend Casey's (Meghan Lennox) house. Casey is the first to offer the sound advice that Izzy's desire to win back Roger is a terrible idea, and she's not the last whose advice Izzy ignores.

Other friends include Dick (Brandon T. Jackson), who promises to have her car repaired at some unknown time in the future, and Walt (Haley Joel Osment), an oddball for whom Izzy does some odd jobs for quick and easy cash. The new friends include Agatha (Alia Shawkat), who's passed out in Walt's house and gets into debate with Izzy about fate and choice (while Agatha breaks into a house), and Mary (Annie Potts), an older, divorced woman who still pines for the love of her youth and regrets how things went wrong. Also making an appearance is Izzy's older sister Virginia (Carrie Coon), who lives in a loveless marriage after giving up on the sisters' shared dream of making it as musicians.

The idea, it seems, is to provide us with some comparisons and some possible futures for Izzy, who might not be as messed up as Agatha but who could, depending on how her confrontation with Roger goes, end up as sad and lonely as either Mary or her sister. It's either that, or the movie is simply a screwball comedy, featuring a cast of characters who complement the foolishness of Izzy's plan, that aspires to more.

It's tough to gage, if only because Izzy does come across as a one-note character until the movie's climactic confrontation, which provides the obvious answer to her journey—before giving us a sense of whiplash with how quickly things turn around and then turn around again. Davis' performance does give a lot more depth to the character than what Papierniak's screenplay offers, and there is a genuine sense of near-manic momentum to the trek, even as it makes the occasional stop for those scenes of trying to say something of significance about life, love, and Izzy's predicament. Izzy Gets the F--- Across Town, though, ultimately suffers by highlighting the desperation of its eponymous traveler, without offering any other side of her until the end.

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