Mark Reviews Movies: THE OPENING ACT

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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 15, 2020

There isn't any real conflict in The Opening Act, but that's not a criticism. Indeed, it might be the most noticeable strength of writer/director Steve Byrne's debut narrative feature.

The story follows an aspiring stand-up comic as he gets his first relatively big gig. That's it. Byrne, a comedian himself, obviously understands this world, where an up-and-comer can't even receive a chance to get his or her foot in the door unless he or she is already in the room, and these characters.

There's our protagonist Will (Jimmy O. Yang), who finally quits his day job after a fellow comedian recommends Will to open for a famous comic at a well-regarded club in Pennsylvania. We meet other characters, all of whom seem to have trait that's going to cause some problems for Will.

The headliner is Billy G (Cedric the Entertainer), well-known on stage and screen, whose first interaction with Will paints the famous comic as someone who doesn't care if the young guy fails or succeeds, as long as the newcomer gets his credits right. The featured comedian is Chris (Alex Moffat), an energetic performer who works in the blue and who has a reputation for being an annoying pest off-stage. The club's manager Chip (Neal Brennan) is off-putting in his apathy, and Chris is either joking or serious when he says that Chip might end up preying on Will's naiveté. At home, Will's girlfriend (played by Debby Ryan) is so supportive that we keep suspecting something might be up there.

Byrne's central story, which has Will's routine on and off stage interrupted by an adventure or two (a disastrous appearance on the radio and a distractingly long sequence of him bringing a strange woman home), isn't particularly engaging, and the comedy bits betray the notion of any of these performers being successful. Beneath the story beats and the stage shows, though, Byrne strikes something surprisingly sincere in what happens and, more importantly, what doesn't happen in the interactions between the comedians.

There aren't any conflicts, and instead, there's a real sense of camaraderie from those who are doing comedy professionally for the new guy. When these characters talk about the job and the grind and the reasons for doing what they do, The Opening Act becomes about unexpected generosity and encouragement. It's really too bad everything between those scenes doesn't live up to them.

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