MAXIMUM TRUTH - Mark Reviews Movies

Maximum Truth, Momentum Pictures

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 22, 2023

The world of politics has always been a rich target of satire, and today's political climate seems especially prone to ridicule, since so much of it has reached a nadir on so many levels. Enter co-writer/star Ike Barinholtz and co-writer/director David Stassen's Maximum Truth, a satirical faux documentary about a political consultant who isn't too bright and doesn't hold any opinions of his own. That's a fine enough starting point for such a takedown of the state of contemporary politics, but that, unfortunately, is also where the insights of this impotent comedy end.

Barinholtz plays Rick Klingman, a former attorney who has branched out into the realm of political consulting after winning a couple of questionable and presumably lucrative lawsuits against people and companies who wronged him. Business isn't great for the guy, which could be a funny bit of juxtaposition if this movie's narrative didn't exist in the vacuum of Rick's life.

How bad at the job of digging up dirt, rearranging facts, and appealing to outrage does one have to be in this polarized climate? If Rick were good at his job, wouldn't that be the stronger position from which to attack the current political landscape of "fake news" and "alternative facts" and outright lies stated loudly and often enough that people assume they must be taken seriously?

The fundamentals of Rick's character seem off here, considering that most our modern problems in politics don't stem from overt failures like Rick. They come from people who actually succeed at spreading falsehoods and misdirecting the conversation from things that matter—either because they're very skilled at the art of manipulation or are confident enough to compensate for their general incompetence.

Rick, though, is just bad at this. That joke is easy, but it also can only take the material so far.

The plot of Barinholtz and Stassen's script has Rick being hired by a wealthy woman (played by Beth Grant) who doesn't like the policy of a candidate for one of Los Angeles' Congressional districts. To get an idea of Rick's ignorance and malleability, he doesn't know the candidate by name or reputation and immediately says some positive things about the guy, until it becomes obvious that his new client can't stand him.

Anyway, she wants Rick to find something damaging about the candidate that will ensure his defeat in the election. To help the search, he enlists the aid of Simon (Dylan O'Brien), a younger guy looking to make some easy money by way of gigs like this, a weight-loss supplement with misspelled branding, and living with his mother.

The main joke here is that the candidate in Rick's sights is as clean and upright as any political mover and shaker could possibly be. Rick and Simon keep searching, though, and repeatedly come up short, no matter how juicy a potentially damning lead might seem. Those gags, as Rick and Simon realize they're being pranked or talking to someone who doesn't quite have a solid grasp on reality, are inherently repetitive, in addition to not really paying off with much of a punch line (Some internet troll makes the pair travel out of their way for a laugh, and another thinks the fakest of fake-looking video editing will be accepted by the public).

That means we spend a lot of time with Rick and Simon. They're both broadly amusing, mainly because Barinholtz and O'Brien buy into how accidentally and intentionally scummy, respectively, each of these characters is. There's not much more to them, except that they both put on a show of being successful, even though they're far from it (Rick asks the unseen director of the documentary to return a business card, since he only has a couple left). A running gag is Rick's relationship with his "roommate/assistant" Marco (Tony Rodriguez), who's insulted about being labeled in such an impersonal and, clearly, inaccurate way. That Rick has to deny a part of himself because he has latched on to the world of right-wing politics is a potent idea, but the movie just treats it for some awkward moments, while further asserting that Rick is as much of a hypocrite as a man with no principles can be.

Again, these are all pretty easy jokes, and they're the full extent of what Maximum Truth has to offer. Some of that is the miscalculation of who Rick is and of what he's capable, but it's mostly the sign of a comedy that isn't willing to dig too deeply for genuine laughs about and perceptions of the world it's trying to skewer.

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