That short description above makes I Used to Be Funny<\/em> sound like a drag, but it deftly mixes comedy and tragedy due to the wit of director Ally Pankiw\u2019s script and a perfectly dry yet nuanced performance from Rachel Sennott. The presence she brings \u2014 alongside the audience\u2019s knowledge of her very funny roles in Bottoms<\/em><\/a>, Bodies Bodies Bodies<\/em><\/a>, and Shiva Baby<\/em><\/a> \u2014 is what makes I Used to Be Funny <\/em>work so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sennott stars as Sam, a depressed stand-up comedian who receives well-deserved praise from her roommates (played by Sabrina Jalees and Caleb Hearon) for the simple act of taking a shower. \u201cI\u2019ve been very horizontal lately,\u201d Sam admits. Though it\u2019s initially unclear why Sam is struggling, flashbacks of Sam\u2019s memories reveal that this isn\u2019t a garden-variety version of the blues, though I Used to Be Funny <\/em>also kindly and humorously acknowledges the difficulty of times like these. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam used to be a nanny for Brooke (Olga Petsa), a young teen whose mother was dying and whose father, Cameron (Jason Jones), wasn\u2019t really sure how to interact with her. The bond between the two young women was fast and fierce as friendships in your teens and twenties often are, even though Sam was technically getting paid to hang out with her. When Brooke goes missing in the present, Sam has to contend with their relationship and what role she might play in finding her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I Used to Be Funny <\/em>relies on Sennott\u2019s gift for comedy, but it also allows her to excel playing a survivor of trauma. It unfolds nonlinearly, with the shifts in time slowly revealing what happened to her and showcasing the actress\u2019s talent at playing the subtleties of all the emotions Sam is feeling. Meanwhile, as much as Sennott\u2019s droll on- and off-screen persona plays into her work here, The Daily Show<\/em> vet Jones is playing against type as the middle-aged dude who is dreadfully unfunny and can\u2019t comprehend his employee\u2019s other gig doing stand-up. Petsa is authentic as a teen going through it who finds unexpected comfort in her new companion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Writer-director Pankiw has worked on some solid TV series that foreground women\u2019s lives, including Shrill<\/em>, The Great<\/em>, and Feel Good<\/em>, as well as directing music videos for artists like Janelle Mon\u00e1e and Muna. The latter work feels especially relevant here, with the soundtrack filled with female vocals feeling so central to both individual moments and the movie as a whole. She shoots some scenes in a lyrical way, but she also isn\u2019t afraid of close-ups of the actors that feel raw, urgent, and emotional rather than overly composed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This profoundly empathetic dramedy acknowledges the difficulty of a variety of people\u2019s experiences around trauma and the complexities of lives connected to others. It isn\u2019t just the \u201cprimary\u201d victim who suffers physically, emotionally, and socially; it\u2019s also those tied to what happened in more tangential ways. It largely avoids cliches in handling what happens to Sam and her response to it, though its final act feels less fresh than the preceding two. Yet even the shots or bits that feel more familiar are still wildly affecting. I Used to be Funny<\/em> is clear-eyed about the relationship between joy and pain; laughter can be the path through sadness, even when it\u2019s the thing we feel least equipped to do at the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I Used to Be Funny” is in theaters Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/i-used-to-be-funny2-1024x576.jpg\")
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