“You get to a point where you get married, have kids and you stop changing,” Adam Scott, the executive producer and star of “The Overnight,” said at a screening of the film at Landmark Century Cinema on June 26.
Scott went on to talk about how parents need to be stable for their kids, and how the personal growth of parents needs to stop once they become a parent, as well as how difficult it is for parents to make friends outside of work and with their children’s friend’s parents. These struggles, that the father of two can personally relate to, is prevalent throughout “The Overnight,” which follows Alex (Scott) and Emily, expertly played by “Orange is the New Black” star Taylor Schilling as they make their first adult friends in a new city, and have a very strange night to remember with them.
One of the best aspects of the film is how natural each actor seemed in their role. Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godreche were perfect, and wholly convincing as the semi-psychotic but endearing new friends to Alex and Emily.
Adam Scott, who is renowned at playing the straight man in absurd comedies, most notably in his role in as Ben Wyatt in “Parks & Recreation,” shines, especially during a speech he made, claiming he “gave birth to himself,” after coming to terms with his small penis (two faux penis prosthetics took up a lot of the budget for the film, and it was worth it—the gag was hilarious). Scott is equally matched by Schilling, whose comedic chops really came through in the film.
As the night got progressively weirder and weirder, I kept wondering while watching the movie (simultaneously with Schilling’s character, Emily) “why don’t they just leave?” At the same time, I probably would have stayed as well. Schwartzman’s character, Kurt, was easily the best of the film, and he expertly found a way to be incredibly strange (having a passion for painting buttholes and dancing nude) without being creepy, a task few other actors could manage in a film like this.
“(Jason) helped us solve the problem of ‘why don’t these people just go home,’” Scott said. “I would stay, Jason is charming and Judith is beautiful.”
“The Overnight” is definitely a strong contender for the funniest film of the year. I was consistently laughing, obnoxiously, throughout the whole film, probably to the annoyance of those sitting next to me.
Beyond the dick jokes, the paintings of buttholes and absurd humor, “The Overnight” also has a clear message — as an adult, and a parent, change isn’t only inevitable, it’s necessary. Otherwise you’ll end up as bizarre as Kurt and Charlotte.