top of page
an evening.jpg
an evening with beverly luff linn

Director: jim hosking (the greasy strangler)

Starring: aubrey plaza, jermaine clement, emile hirsch, and matt berry

 

REVIEWER: lyall carter

★★★

Lulu Danger's unhappy marriage takes a turn for the worse when a mysterious man from her past comes to town to perform.

There's a couple of ways that a TV show or film can shock you in its first opening minutes. But it wasn't gratuitous sex or violence that shocked me at the beginning of An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn - it was the tone. It was bizarrely bonkers from the outset and doesn't relent throughout. And as a film it mainly works. 

​

Lulu’s lost interest in her life with Shane, and barely pays him heed as he whines about money troubles over dinner. Late at night, she sees a TV commercial for the eponymous event, and instantly recognises Beverly as a mysterious figure from her past. She recalls him fondly, but details are scant, and they don’t even matter much. He represents escape…

​

If you loved extremely dead pan comedies like Napoleon Dynamite and TV's Flight of the Conchords and Toast of London, then An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn will be right up your cinematic alley. It's really frickin weird. Like really weird. 

​

And that weird tone really does throw you. Its more deadpan than the titles that I've mentioned above, but stick with it and you'll get more than a few chuckles from this absurd comedy. 

​

The story makes sense, is paced well, but the payoff is a little lacking. The build towards its conclusion has you expecting one thing and receiving another slightly odd end. But that being said, the cast, who are are who's who of strange comedy, are brilliant. 

​

The duo of Aubrey Plaza and Jermaine Clement is one that I really do want to see again. They have chemistry that is palpable and comedically bounce off one another perfectly. 

​

For folks with a particular comedic taste, An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn certainly brings the chuckles. 

★★★

an evening.jpeg

An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn is available on DVD and digital from all good disc and digital retailers. 

bottom of page