Jason Schwartzman, fresh off a relentlessly acerbic performance as a misanthrope writer in Listen Up Philip goes intense again in The Overnight. Similarly, it’s not his fault this film about would-be swingers comes up limp. Schwartzman goes into overdrive with a gushing likability this time that is practically the flip side of his rotten-egg personality in Listen Up Philip. Schwartzman the actor would have been wise to invest as much time and energy in choosing a screenplay as his character, Kurt, does in trying to get a (much) straighter couple to like him enough to let their hair down a little.
Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) meet Kurt in a park while their little kids instantly bond. They’re new to L.A. and worried they might not make new friends. Wearing a hat that could be mistaken for a Hasidic adornment, Kurt is offbeat, charming and persistent. He invites the couple over for a pizza night. We’re led to believe from the trailer and the build-up that erotic shenanigans will soon ensue. You be the judge. Not only is the build-up far greater than any payoff but the whole evening is pretty much low-level cutesy masquerading as something deeper. While Kurt continues to enthrall with a semi-amusing charismatic pull, the rest of the foursome are duller than Jeb Bush. Kurt’s wife, Charlotte (Judith Godreche) is French and–whoa, he has videos showing her doing online ads for a breast pump. When she sneaks out to a massage parlor with an aghast Emily in tow while the men think they’re out to a liquor store, we’re supposed to be shocked that Frenchie has a brazen fetish.
Somewhere in this film it also becomes clear that Kurt is an artist who paints mostly assholes–literally. The there are bongs and plenty of wine and a pool where Alex is afraid to get naked because he’s, er, undersized. Kurt, wearing a prosthetic dong about a football-field long, reassures Alex size means nothing. Neither does this film, which strives for insight on social awkwardness but merely comes up awkward.